Essay On The Forest In The Crucible

Words: 1478
Pages: 6

The deception to follow after love hinders upon one’s Puritan belief. In the early days of Massachusetts Bay Colony, town settlements amassed to practice religion. The Puritan belief entailed strict guidelines to abide by; predestination was in the hands of God. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible by Arthur Miller are two works of literature that embody symbols that transform each work into two distinct stories warped around Puritanism. Through both works of literature forests, sins, and consequences represented through symbols were used to develop each plot. Forests were symbolic in both works of literature. In The Crucible, the story opened up in a forest with Tituba and Abigail’s group of girls who casted love potions. The forest symbolized fantasy and witches. The forest setting provided privacy away from society, which enabled the girls to have a place to perform witch-like behavior. “In the past, men created witches: now they …show more content…
the forest portrays Hester’s life between the lines of the town and freedom. The forest served as another home for Hester, away from society. The setting of the natural world has no rules or boundaries. Moreover, the forest is a haven for Hester to meet up and have deep conversations with Dimmesdale. “Such was the sympathy of Nature-that wild, heathen Nature of the forest, never subjugated by human law, nor illumined by higher truth-with the bliss of these two spirits!" (Hawthorne, 186). Since the forest sheltered Hester with safety, time spent here helped Hester and Dimmesdale to be a couple. Moreover, the reader can presume the forest provided an opportunity to for Hester to tell Dimmesdale what was on her mind. “Forgive me...But a lie is never good… Roger Chillingworth!-he was my husband” (176). Hester revealed Chillingworth’s identity in the forest for privacy, while not being overheard by the town. In addition to the symbolism behind the forest, sins were another symbol in each