Freedom In The Crucible

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“The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.” In essence H.L. Mencken, the writer of this quote, claims that the average person would rather have safety over freedom; this is a bona fide statement because what good is freedom, if you are living in fear everyday of your life? This quote applies to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and modern society. In The Crucible, the characters sacrificed their truth and freedom for safety to stay alive. They also had the freedom to go anywhere that they wanted but safety was not guaranteed which kept a lot of people left in hysteria due to fear of witches. Similar to this, in modern society people have freedoms given to them everywhere; however, safety is always in question. As human …show more content…
For example, for Tituba, a Caribbean slave of the Reverend, and Sarah Good, a beggar in Salem, confessing or being hanged was the only ultimatum they were given. This in turn causes the women to confess to a crime that they did not do just to stay alive. They were arrested and gave up their freedom in order to stay breathing and safe. This is a clear point of how the characters in this book chose safety over freedom. An additional instance of their choice of safety over freedom is how each member of the town is encouraged to stay inside unexposed to the evils of the exterior world. John Proctor encourages his own wife to say within the household because of the fear of harsh judgment and the chatter about witches. All of the citizens of Salem, excluding the slaves and servants, are free to go anywhere they want, but they choose to stay safe inside. While some may argue that the citizens are not free in the first place because of the talk of witches, they fail to question the undermining reason why they are not free. They are “not free” because the citizens are scared to go outside all in protection of one thing-- their safety. Safety again, proves to be the most important aspect of their
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