Crucible Effects

There are times in life where people are scared of certain things such as heights. Heights seem very scary to many people and this prevents them from having fun and enjoying life to the fullest. If people were not scared of heights, they could go bungee jumping; go on a roller coaster and many other things. Other things may be life in general such as being afraid of going up to a person that you really like and confessing to them. Many people never face them or try to be friends with them for the rest of their life; they would not know if the person likes them too. This is Dorothy Thompson once said that “Only when we are no longer afraid do we truly begin to live.” Thompson meant to tell people that fear is a waste of time and only serves to hold one back from their infinite possibilities in the future. Fear is something that people are scared of and do not want to face. Facing fear is something really hard to do especially when you are afraid of it. When you decide to face fear and challenge it, you will face many things you thought you would not have faced before. This quote is legitimate because fear blocks and prevents the society from achieving what they want and need. The play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller and a narrative poem, “Half-Hanged Mary” by Margaret Atwood are perfect examples of represent Dorothy Thompson’s quote. In The Crucible, Mary Warren and Elizabeth Proctor represent the people that fear in the beginning and overcome at the end; for “Half-Hanged Mary”, Mary Webster did not fear at all and became stronger as a person including her significance in survival after being hanged and cut down.

The Crucible is a play about Witchcraft in the Salem Village during the McCarthy Era. Mary Warren, a servant of the Proctor house, plays an important role in the play. Throughout the whole play, Mary Warren is constantly “tormented” by John Proctor. This shows that she does not have determination in rebelling what she does. Mary is not an evil person but she wants to be a part of the Salem village community and does no want to be left out. In Act 3, Mary is accused of using witchcraft to control Abigail and the girls because they were copying everything that Mary said. Mary starts to scream and John Proctor tries to touch her. When he does, she moves away and says that John Proctor is part of the devil. She also accuses him of being partners with the devil and pressuring her to join them in their evil deeds they plan. In the beginning of the play, Mary was “afraid” of John Proctor and she did not try to defend herself in anything. John Proctor said one thing and Mary did it. She was just a servant so she should be doing those things but the way she was treated was not like any regular servant. Towards the middle of the play in Act II, John orders Mary to go to bed and she rebels and tells him to stop telling her what to do. That is the first step to Mary “starting to live” and to stop John from controlling her. At the end is where Mary really shows that she can live her own life and not be controlled by John Proctor. She starts to do the reverse and accuses John Proctor because she hates him so much. She says that he is with the devil so that he could get him in jail. After that, Mary is truly free from the “Proctor family” and most importantly, John Proctor. She became stronger as a person and now she can freely live her own life without being controlled constantly. Mary Warren was not like John Proctor, because he was strong and knows his wrongdoings all throughout the play.

John Proctor is a Puritan of the Salem Village. He is well respected and very well known. He has no intention to hurt anyone but he does control Mary Warren very will Throughout the whole play, John Proctor is the most perfect example of living beyond Dorothy Thompson’s quote. He was never afraid of anything and did everything to protect his name. In the beginning of the play, John Proctor starts having an affair with Abigail Williams. Abigail truly loved John Proctor and he treated their relationship as lust. She also wanted to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor, to be with him forever. John does not like the idea and tries to tell Abigail that he is not in love with her. Elizabeth finds out and she fires Abigail. John notices that he has sinned in having an affair