The Crucible John Proctor Reputation Essay

Words: 572
Pages: 3

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible should be read by not only teenagers, but by everyone. Set in Salem, Massachusetts, the play begins in 1692 with the Reverend Parris discussing the rituals his niece and daughter performed in the woods with his servant, Tituba. As the prominent figure in the Puritan community, Parris was worried about his reputation if his family was associated with witchcraft. Quickly, Abigail Williams gains an extreme amount of power even though she’s both unmarried and a woman; previously, the town had shamed her for having an affair with the outcast, John Proctor. By the end of the play, many citizens avoided deathly punishments by pleading guilty to the offense of witchcraft. To protect his newly respected name, John retracts …show more content…
The town outcast was paralleled from the author, Arthur Miller. Miller experienced both marital issues and faced many accusations. John Proctor was accused of witchcraft; when he was given the opportunity to be pardoned from his punishment, he realized that it would be more powerful to die innocently. He ripped up his confession to keep his good name in the community that he was once a vagabond in. Similarly, Arthur Miller was true to his character in the hunt for communists during the …show more content…
The witch hunt of 1692 in Salem was similar to the Red Scare in the midst of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and United States. Senator Joseph McCarthy subpoenaed hundreds of Americans and questioned them about communism. Arthur Miller was an individual that was called in; he was given the option to have his case thrown out if the House Un-American Activities Committee members could take a picture with his future wife, Marilyn Monroe. When Miller refused, he was charged in contempt of Congress. The author exhibits lessons he learned through his experiences through morals in the