Category: Abigail Williams

History Repeats Itself

Over the past 6500 years, there have been numerous world leaders, some intelligent and sympathetic, some incompetent and callous. Many writers have tried to draw similarities and analogies of historic leaders in their novels. One such novel is The Crucible by Arthur Miller. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller depicts Abigail Williams as a cruel, narcissistic, and impassive person. Adolf Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany during WWII. He and Abigail Williams share many of the same character traits. They both used fear as a weapon against other people and they were both incredibly selfish. However, Adolf Hitler was more effective and damaging than Abigail Williams was. Although Abigail Williams was much less effective and damaging than Adolf Hitler, both Abigail Williams and Adolf Hitler were both manipulative and narcissistic.

Both Adolf Hitler and Abigail Williams used fear as a weapon. Adolf Hitler used fear to silence everyone who stood in his path. Using the SS, or the Schutzstaffel, he arrested anyone who dissented against him and killed or imprisoned anyone who disagreed with him. Likewise, Abigail Williams threatens to kill anyone, saying that “I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (Miller 1137). Another similarity is that both use propaganda to their advantage. In the case of Adolf Hitler, he used propaganda to distract the German population from what was really happening. An example of this is when Adolf Hitler uses anti-Semitic posters and graphics to convince the German population that Jews were the problem. Similarly, Abigail Williams in The Crucible blames others for witchcraft and pretends to be afflicted in the hope of convincing the judges and the general population that there is actually witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.

Another similarity between Abigail Williams and Adolf Hitler is that they are both narcissistic and selfish. Judging by their actions, both Abigail Williams and Hitler only care about themselves. During World War II and the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler exterminated 6 million Jews with a blink of an eye. He and his Nazi Party set up numerous concentration camps, both in Germany and in conquered territories. These concentration camps imprisoned not only Jews but other “enemies of the state,” such as homosexuals and gypsies. An example of a famous concentration camp is Auschwitz, found in Poland. An estimated 1.1 million people were killed in Auschwitz, by malnourishment, gas chambers, or being burned alive. Adolf Hitler did not care for other people, he only cared for himself. Abigail Williams is similar in this aspect. Abigail Williams only cares about herself, and she only does things for herself. For example, in The Crucible, after she heard that Tituba was being an angel after confessing to witchcraft, she wanted all the attention, so she also confessed to witchcraft so all of the attention would be on her. She did this by saying “I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus!” (Miller 1156). She is also responsible for the blaming of Tituba of witchcraft. This is analogous to Hitler in that Hitler also blamed others for his actions.

Although Adolf Hitler and Abigail Williams have the same personality traits, they differ in effectiveness and damage. First, Hitler’s leadership killed much more people than Abigail’s. Hitler’s anti-Semitic policies ultimately killed more than 20 million people, while Abigail’s witchcraft blaming killed 50 people at most. Another difference is that Hitler is much more well-known than Abigail Williams. An ordinary person would know who Adolf Hitler was, but they may not know who Abigail Williams was. Lastly, the consequences of Adolf Hitler and Abigail Williams are different. While Adolf Hitler ultimately had to shoot himself to a bunker, Abigail Williams manages to get away with it. She steals Reverend Parris’ money and leaves. Reverend Parris talks about his niece that “she has vanished” (Miller 1220).

Adolf Hitler and Abigail Williams have many personality traits in common. They are both narcissistic, selfish, and they both blame others for their mistakes. Also, as a result of their actions, many people are killed. They both have differences, however. Adolf Hitler was much more dangerous than Abigail Williams, and Adolf Hitler ultimately had to pay for his actions, while Abigail Williams did not have to. Regardless, Abigail Williams shows that history will repeat itself and that if nobody takes actions, many people may die.

‘The Crucible’ is a 1953 play by an American play writer, Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch hunt trials that took place in Massachusetts in 1692. One of the main characters of the play, Abigail Williams is one the main character in the play who is the antagonist and involved in most of the conflicts because she represents the theme off jealousy. She is a victim of what is happening in her life but that doesn’t give her justification for her disgusting action. The other adversary of the play is the town itself, because of the judgemental and self-centred people, and it is tyrannical views. Puritan religious fanaticism was plain as a pikestaff. They blamed every unknown mystery on the devil and witches who were associated with the devil. Many people were victims to the puritan religious fanatics and lost their precious lives. Abigail Williams is a victim of circumstance and her actions are not justifiable.

Arthur Miller gives a clear detail about Abigail’s childhood experiences which informs the reader where her hard-heartedness might come from since she had seen the death of her parents as a young child. “I saw Indians smash my dear parents head on the pillow next to mine” (Act 1, Page 27). A trauma this big later turn into a person being harmful towards others. Abigail’s cold-blooded, manipulative strategies show how low her character and reputation are in the society of Salem. She is an orphan and single teenager who lives in a patriarchal puritan society. The only person below her in the social hierarchy is the black slave, Tituba. In addition, her problem is that Elizabeth Proctor, wife of Abigail’s former lover, John Proctor, goes around the town dropping hints about Abigail’s characteristics, which results in lowering her social status. Based on the evidence provided, Abigail shows how much she craves to gain the power to make her status in society better. She is an example of hysteria and has an antipathy against Elizabeth Proctor. She is depicted as homewrecker due to John Proctor’s disloyalty to his wife. This is shown when proctor smiles widening; “Ah you wicked yet aren’t you… You will be clapped in the stocks before you’re twenty” (Act 1 page 28). Through imagery, the author shows that proctor is amused and charmed by Abigail’s mischievous tricks. At the same time, it shows that he does not like what is happening in their taboo relationship. She is a victim but sending nineteen innocent souls to their grave is not permissible.

Abigail is a vengeful, egotistical, manipulative, and magnificent lair. She has the superpower of spreading death and devastation wherever she goes. She has a strange sense of how to manipulate others and gain control of them. All of this adds up to make her a great nemesis. She manipulates her only friends and their entire town. She also sent nineteen innocent people to their death. Her revenge was driven by jealousy sexual desire for john and lust for power. In Act 1, her skills of manipulation are displayed towards Tituba. When she is about to get in trouble for witchcraft, she quickly directs the whole thing on Tituba although she had convened to cast spells in the ritual to eliminate proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. When Betty says to Abigail, “…you drank blood a charm to kill johns proctor wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody proctor!” (Act 1 page 26). The author use reputation which positions the audience to think why Abigail would try to kill a mother who has young children by drinking blood. Also, it shows what lengths she will go to for how she thinks it benefits her even by killing a good person like Goody proctor. Abigail response to the situation was shocking. She threats them by stating “Mark this let either of you breathe a word or edge of word… I will come to you in the black of some terrible and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you…I can do it. I can make you wish you wish you never see the sun go down again!’ (Act 1 page 26 and 27). Hyperbole, repetition, metaphor, and imagery are used to create a strong tone which reveals how confident she is and capable of killing who lets a word out. One thing is crystal clear that she is bossy and controlling according to her statement. Moreover, it implies that type of magic she uses which is powerful at night. Ironically, that Abigail who encouraged the sorcery in the first place is the one who goes around condemning everybody else. As the leader, she excites the other girls into a turmoil of emotion, which allows them to condemn as witches to the people they appreciate and adore. She riles up the entire village’s animosity of witches. Abigail key skill seems to be finding peoples flaws, their weakness, and their prejudices. Then cruelly manipulates them to advantage. She does not show any bit of regret the entire time, making appear almost brutally vicious. Her acting skills are beyond this world, but she uses to jeopardize innocent people. Abigail is the least complicated. She is the villain of the play, contrasted to Parris and Danforth. For example, she tries to kill Mary before she changes sides due to Abigail pressure and the other girls who are a puppet to her. She to be cold and pretends to see a shadow; assertion that Mary is a “black art to change her form” (Act 3, page 101). Danforth beliefs her acting. All she is doing is describing her Blackmagic but blaming her. It is similar when she blamed Elizabeth for using the doll to kill her. The doll symbolises voodoo which is practised in the Caribbean and it is an integral part of witchcraft. It can also be a symbol of childhood innocence. In act three her love for john because he tries to expose her. She does not give up and skilfully manages the entire thing on him and latter lose his life. This demonstrates that she values her life more than her love. Her actions are understandable but not justifiable.

In conclusion, she is a victim because of her upbringing since she grows up without parents love. Been treated like trash and works hard to survive in a male-dominated society. This does not give the right to oppress others as she has been oppressed. She could have been the hero, but she chose the opposite due to her negative trait. Her behaviour is not new it shows what human being is capable of.

We are not so different today as in the Seventeenth Century. People in positions of power abusing their positions is as prevalent today as it was then. ‘The Crucible’ is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay.

Abuse of power is using power and authority for personal gain, and it is twice as bad when it causes an ill effect on other people. In ‘The Crucible’ three main characters abuse their power. They are Reverend Paris, the Putnams and Abigail Williams.

There are some notable and recent examples of abuse of power that mirrors the same issues raised by Arthur Miller. These include the somewhat comical 2013 story of the daughter of the Mexican Attorney General for Consumer Protection and the more local example of Joh Bjelke-Petersen, the disgraced Premier of Queensland who held office from1968 to 1987.

We can draw a comparison in ‘The Crucible’, when Reverend Parris abuses his power by saving himself and only caring about his reputation. This is shown in when Parris knew this and abused his power as the Reverend of Salem, “I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me” this show his long quest for power. “He cut a villainous path, and there is very little good to be said for him. He believed he was being persecuted wherever he went, despite his best efforts to win people and God to his side…He felt insulted if someone rose to shut the door without first asking his permission”. Revered Paris isn’t the only character that abuses power, the Putnams in the book are abusing their power by using their high station in the town to accuse others of witchcraft so that they can claim their land. Abigail Williams, who becomes loved by the community, begins to abuse her power throughout the play by threatening the other girls and innocent people of witchcraft. Abigail Williams, John Proctor’s whore, gains power through her role as the so-called ‘witch radar’. She abuses it to save herself and seek revenge on Elizabeth, John Proctor’s wife, after she fired Abigail and gave her a bad reputation. This is exemplified in this early scene in which Abigail falsely accuses Tituba of witchcraft “She sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer!”; “She comes to me every night to go and drink blood!”. “Sometimes I wake and find myself standing in the open doorway and not a stitch on my body! I always hear her laughing in my sleep. I hear her singing her Barbados songs and tempting me with’.

Now back to the future. Let’s go to Modern day Mexico. Humberto’s daughter in Mexico turned up at a restaurant and did not get the table she wanted, and she threw a fit at the chic bistro in a popular Mexican neighbourhood. The bad-tempered young lady used the position of her family to send in the food inspectors and shut down the restaurant and destroy the business.

The Queensland example of abuse of power in the Bjelke-Petersen government came to a head in 1987 when his government came under the spotlight of a royal commission into police corruption and its links with state government ministers. Bjelke-Petersen resigned from politics on 1 December, 1987. Two of his state ministers and his appointed police commissioner were jailed for corruption offences and in 1991 Bjelke-Petersen was tried for perjury but the jury failed to reach a verdict, and Bjelke-Petersen was deemed too old to face a second trial.

Abuse of power isn’t the only important theme in ‘The Crucible’ the Fear of the unknown is an important theme as well. Fear of the unknown is being afraid of other cultures, and you can’t comprehend what’s to come.

Not too long ago, there has been a shooting at Christ Church in New Zealand in a Deans Ave and Linwood mosques. A young Australian White supremacist, who feared Muslim’s, murdered 50 people and injured countless others who were praying in Mosques. He took justice into his own hands and became judge, jury and executioner. This is not how a justice system should work.

In ‘The Crucible’ this is similar to people sentencing women in particular to death. The community was swept up in fear that caused a mob mentality. This is shown in the following passage in which Danforth “In an ordinary crime, how does one defend the accused? One calls up witnesses to prove his innocence. But witchcraft is ipso facto, on its face and by its nature, an invisible crime is it not? Therefore, who may possibly be witness to it? The witch and the victim. None other…we must rely on upon her [ the witch’s] victims”.

This quote represents the type of logic used in these witch trials and the minds of terrorists such as the one in New Zealand. It exemplifies the craziness of the’ justice’ system in place during the Salem witch trial. To only consider the so-called ‘witch’ and ‘victim’ is completely unfair against the ‘witch.’ Using this process, anyone can be convicted, and this is the same logic terrorists use.

I have always been thinking when will it stop?!

Do you remember Bill Clinton? The 42nd president of the United States, a supposed role model to the nation. Well, his scandal of 1995 reveled that he had an affair with a fellow government worker Monica Lewinski. In this case, Clinton’s choices put in perspective how a person’s public and personal actions and choices can be the complete opposite. Through the action of storytelling, we are able to reveal and experience others conflicting public and personal personas, which make us aware of our own experiences. So, do these stories, in turn, make us aware of how we behave differently to conform in public?

The inner conflicts of John Proctor become an overwhelming entity surrounding his affair with Abigail, in ‘The Crucible’, as a result of his personal choice, John Proctor considers himself as a ‘kind of fraud’, because of his unfaithful actions towards his wife, that go against all good Christian ideals. So, we are aware that in this story John Proctor is both viewed upon as a lesser individual due to his taboo affair with Abigail but has redeeming qualities that are reflected in his high moral standards these bring to question ‘What makes a person good?’, and decodes the social construct of a perfect person in ‘The Crucible’, which can be mirrored in today’s society. John Proctors good morals come into focus when he confesses to witchcraft in “I speak on my own sins, I can’t judge another, I have no tongue for it” through his refusal to incriminate others this shows that he is a man of high moral value. Proctor’s allusion of self-worth is entirely structured upon his ‘good name’ and how others perceive him, in the quote: “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”. Proctor’s overwhelming need to maintain his good name in the town of Salem reflects the importance for others’ opinions and their approval in order to value yourself. When Proctor’s personal flaws collide with his prosperous public identity it makes us aware of our own experiences and how our actions can shape our value of ourselves and others.

Abigail Williams is demonstrated as the villain in this play, a woman, who strived for power and the aspiration of self-preservation. But do we not as individuals living amongst a world of millions of people strive for power? Do we not, when it comes down to it look out for ourselves? And our own interests? Abigail Williams was a victim of circumstance: she was influenced at a young age by John Proctor who provides her with false hope and an excuse for vengeance. Although this choice of villainess behavior is not justified it can be understood. In the personal relationship of Abigail and John, it unleashes a side to Abigail that under other circumstances could’ve been avoided, in the quote: “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart. I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!”.

It reveals that Abigail is still in love with John Proctor, the actions taken out against Elizabeth are a result of this obsession. Through the actions of individuals personal lives within this play it has dramatically affected their public persona. Unlike John Proctor who at all costs aims to protect his good name by disassociating his public and personal life, Abigail has let her personal experiences overthrow her and does not act differently to conform in public. Unlike Abigail who contradicts the stereotype of female oppression for her time a character by the name of Mary Maloney from Rold Dahl’s short story ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ definitely conforms to them all. Although this is the case for the introduction of the story, we quickly see her transform before our eyes from a caring, loving housewife to a manipulative and cold-hearted character. Mary’s sudden change can be traced back to the dominance her husband had over her. The quote “At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head”, – embodies the definition of irony, through the use of the word ‘simply’ to describe the actions she is committing it creates irony as there is nothing simple to what she is doing. Through the characters of Abigail and Mary, it is clear that the oppression that they have both individually felt in their personal lives has controlled the way they act publicly. Whilst Abigail conducts herself carelessly out of rage and desire, Mary conducts herself as sophisticated and prepared for the public eye. Both these characters can make us aware of how we as humans act as individuals depending on our individual experiences.

Patrick Maloney, husband to Mary Maloney is a police detective that cares more about his job than his home life. Roald Dahl creates the character of Patrick Maloney to be disliked by the audience, he does this through dialogue with his wife Mary in “’I’ll get it’, she cried, jumping up. ‘Sit down’, – he said… ‘Darling, shall I get your slippers?’. ‘No’”. These are examples of the blunt responses and the ignorant command he when responding to someone he is supposed to care this makes the audience lead towards the direction of dislike, making it more enticing when Mary ironically kills her husband. Through the use of the adjective ‘frightened’ when describing Mary Warren when her husband tells her to ‘sit’ it reveals a slight panic around the relationship and the way, Mary feels about her husband, which shows that Roald Dahl deliberately uses these alarming words to villainize Patrick Maloney. I personally find there to be irony in the fact that he is a police detective who is seen upon by the public as a reliable person who they can trust, with this reputation surrounding him it is completely contradicted by his individual actions away from the public eye. This short story adds to the long list of stories that make us more aware of the difference between our public and personal lives and how our individual experiences can shape those of the people around us.

Storytelling is an excellent form to express people’s public and personal personas. This allows the viewer to be more aware of not only the experiences of the people in these stories but of people around us and our own individual experience.

Complimentarily, Arthur Miller’s application of juxtaposition highlights the differences between characters who are significantly different and brings to light those who don’t belong. An example of the juxtaposition Miller applies is between the characters Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor. The black and white rulings of the characters would be almost ironic, bearing in mind that Arthur Miller wrote this play to expose the hazards of judging people with different mindsets or belief systems. Abigail Williams is evidently the villain of the play, she tells lies, manipulates everyone around her, and bestows 19 innocent townspeople to their execution. During the hysteria, Abigail’s motivations are simply jealousy and the aspiration to have vengeance on Elizabeth. The audience encounters Elizabeth Proctor through the words of Abigail, who describes Elizabeth as In Act II, Elizabeth is further familiarised to the audience. We then immediately perceive that Abigail is a liar and that Elizabeth is, in fact, the opposite of ‘bitter and snivelling’. Arthur Miller’s implementation of this juxtaposition is especially successful in conveying his concept of belonging, that going against powerful individuals can trigger the alienation of moral people.

Furthermore, Abigail wants John for the social status and lust; she then discards him when she apprehends there is nothing for her to gain. Juxtaposed to this, Elizabeth, despite Johns transgression, is prepared to lie for him and is devoted. Consequently, the audience perceives Elizabeth’s love for Proctor as true, because it is juxtaposed to Abigail’s fabricated ‘love’. It’s Abigail who took John Proctor’s ‘goodness’ away, but Elizabeth who gives it back. Investigating the characters and motives of these 2 key females, a rough microcosm comes into view, paralleling the message of the story. The reader begins to recognize that more is at play than a surface rendering of ‘good’ versus ‘evil’. Lighting is additionally utilised to support Arthur Miller in communicating the concept of belonging. Miller is very precise regarding light effects in the play, the theme of light juxtaposed to dark foretells the upcoming events. Darkness conveys an aura of evil in the play, it is reflected through Abigail or through an evil spirit to expose evil in the town. Contrasting to light, which symbolises belonging and the truth through Religion. There is the hope of belonging within light, even though the audience sees that the light (belonging) is dimming as the play advances.

Therefore, with Arthur Miller’s effective use of aesthetic features and stylistic devices, including, characterisation, irony and juxtaposition to reveal the impulses of domestic tyranny in the United States, to allegorically juxtapose the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s with the Salem Witch Trial and reflect on factors such as political, social and psychological impacts.

“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right” – Rosa Parks. What is the right thing? Throughout society, people have been fighting to do the right thing. From America fighting for their freedom, to women’s equality. Sometimes doing something right changes society, other times no matter how hard people try, evil takes over. As in the case of the Salem Witch Trials, evil won. Abigail Williams and a group of young girls were accused of witchcraft. They decided that accusing other innocent townspeople would turn the blame away from them. Which it did, however, causing an even bigger event. 1692 to May of ‘93, a time that will infamously live forever. Study shows the inflicted girls were not actually being visited by the devil, there were more significant causes describing the social beliefs of the time.

From the start of the trials, Abigail Williams has changed the ideas of witchcraft on the society. “When Abigail seizes upon the device of accusing others to deflect blame away from herself, she sets in motion the forces of envy, greed, and malice” (Sundstrand, 1). Abigail, as do other townspeople, see an out in the accusation of witchcraft. They decide that accusing other people in the community of siding with the devil can turn the blame off of themselves. By doing this, she is falsely accusing innocent people in society. Which leads to the townspeople standing up for what they believe in, consequently that turns into death.

After debating, Proctor decides to tell Judge Danforth the truth about his affair with Abigail. By doing this, he is showing society that Abigail is not the saint they all think she is.

“Proctor protests that the children have been lying and that the Putnams are guilty of collusion, Danforth replies that he has found their evidence convincing” (Porter, 1). Judge Danforth does not have clear, true evidence on either side. He is going off of the ‘evidence’ Abigail is giving him and the jury. Abigail does not have clear evidence either, she is making up stories so the blame will be turned away from herself. When someone else tries to defend themselves, it seems as though Judge Danforth does not want to go through a whole new problem. Consequently, he turns it down and says that the evidence is not convincing enough.

As the problem grows, townspeople are starting to develop their own opinions about the trials. “Danforth is joined to Abigail and the forces of evil and Hale becomes an advocate of the individual with Proctor” (Porter, 1). Towards the end of the trials, some townspeople start to separate from each other. For example, Hale and Danforth are beginning to create other opinions about what is happening, and who is telling the truth. Danforth is taking the easy way out and siding with Abigail and the girls. Hale is siding with Proctor and fighting for life and truth.

In the beginning of the trials, many townspeople including Reverend Hale believe Abigail and the girls were telling the truth. However, as things started to progress, Hale and other people in the community started piecing things together. “Hale doubts that Abigail would accuse Elizabeth just to be spiteful” (Derosa, 137). In the beginning of the trials, Reverend Hale does not know what to believe, because it is all so new. Everyone is fooled by Abigail and the girls. For example, Elizabeth believes that Abigail has accused her, because Abigail wants revenge. Hale does not see how that could be true, because Abigail seems like the angel.

Revenge, greed, and money can turn even the kindest people into animals. As seen, during the Witch Trials, tons of citizens in the town of Salem would turn innocent people in for witchcraft. “Every single person can avail himself of the opportunity to wreak his own personal vengeance on his neighbour” (Bonnet, 1). When the time comes, people can become extremely selfish and greedy. During the trials, if someone wants more land or money, they accuse their neighbor or friend to receive it. For example, the Putnams accuse their neighbors of witchcraft for their land and money.

Anyone can and will betray anyone. “Townspeople turn on one another, profiting from their neighbors’ misfortunes, wreaking vengeance for real or imagined grievances, substituting spite and fear for love and trust” (Sundstrand, 1). Revenge, greed, and profit can make someone extremely selfish and devilish. Throughout the trials, greed and revenge took over people’s lives to the point where death was inevitable for some citizens.

John Proctor has definitely sinned throughout his life, and he knows it. The affair with Abigail has made a whole in his relationship with his wife, Elizabeth. “. . . besides answering a formal charge, must satisfy his own conscience about his innocence” (Porter, 1). Throughout the trials, John Proctor starts to realize he wants to make his wife and sons proud. Most of all, he wants to make himself proud, consequently he chooses to die over lying to live. By choosing to die, John Proctor is actually content with his life and can move on.

After contemplating on making the moral or immoral decision, Proctor decides to not sign his life and dignity away. “John Proctor. . . is a man capable of infidelity, but he nonetheless chooses to die to preserve his own dignity. . .” (Abbotson, 186). If Proctor wants to, he can easily lie to save his life. However, he would have to give up his name and dignity for lying. Say Proctor gives up his name, that guilt will forever linger inside of him. His sons will also have to live with the name. Proctor does not want to do that to his sons, but most importantly, to himself.

People will do anything to live, if you give them a reason. Townspeople during the trials would accuse other people to turn the blame away from them. “All the same, The Crucible has a strong emphasis on everybody else, showing how people accuse others in order to save themselves” (Perret, 1). The trials show how many of the citizens in Salem accuse other citizens so they can save themselves. Abigail is the best example for the false inmoral accusations. She has accused many young women so the blame would turn away from her. Abigail has witnessed her parents be brutally murdered, her conscience is bruised and damaged. Accusing innocent townspeople of witchcraft will not affect her like it would affect other people.

There are studies showing how the girls that were inflicted did not actually get visited by the devil, there were other rather significant causes describing the social beliefs during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Without the factors or vengeance, the false accusations, and the morals of the Puritan society, the Salem Witch Trials would have had a very different outcome. In any case, the trials show the human nature of the people in the community. Revenge and greed, being the reason a neighbor has been hung. People will do anything to save themselves. However, there are those couple people you can count on that would never betray a friend. The Salem Witch Trials were a lesson for future generations, setting the example on how people act under dire circumstances.

The 32nd president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt once said during the presidential election of 1932, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. Roosevelt was trying to describe that fear is the one thing to be afraid of since it can be used to manipulate many with fears and make them act irrationally, which gives them false hope of security. In Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’, he uses fear in the story to show us how terror makes people show their true colors. Even though fear may be used as a way to keep people in check, fear makes people act unreasonable because Mary Warren feared being apprehended and sentenced to death, Abigail Williams feared that she was going to be caught committing witchcrafts, and John Proctor feared having his reputation being ruined for doing something he never did and having his name be tarnished up on the church and town.

First, fear makes people act irrationally because Mary Warren feared being apprehended and sentenced to death. Mary Warren is the maiden to John and Elizabeth Proctor, who soon became one of the accusers in Abigail’s case. During the trial of Proctor, Abigail and Elizabeth, all the girls who were accused of witchcraft being led by Abigail pointed fingers at Mary Warren. Abigail snapped out and ran along with it and pointed the gun at John Proctor for working with the Devil. She didn’t want to be the one in the spotlight so, she shined it on the next person available. A quote from her on it states, “ABIGAIL: Her eyes fall on Mary Warren. MARY WARREN: terrified, pleading. Abby!”. In this quote, Mary Warren clearly becomes anxious the second Abigail looks over at her, without saying a word Mary instantly gets drowned in anxiety. Not only that but on Mary quotes, “MARY WARREN: pointing at proctor. You’re the Devil’s man!”. She couldn’t take the pressure being built on her, so she instead pushed the blame onto someone other than her in hopes to save herself. Though risking someone else’s life, fear pushed her to shove the blame onto someone else, only to rescue her life before she was drowned in the lies.

Additionally, Abigail Williams feared that she was going to be caught committing witchcraft and have her name be soiled in the town. Abigail Williams is the niece to Reverend Parris and the former maiden to Elizabeth. Abigail was a part of a ritual in the beginning of the play and was caught, but she feared being caught and having the finger pointed at her so she accuses Tituba, a slave to Parris, for forcing her to commit to the witchcraft. In act 1 on Abigail quotes ‘And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it”. Abigail in this quote is talking to every other lady that was there during/part of the witchcraft. She threatens them in retaliation to stay in line with a single story for her life and theirs since there was a lot that’s been said already. Abigail and Proctor quotes in “PROCTOR: angered – at himself as well You’ll speak nothin’ of Elizabeth! – ABIGAIL: She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold sniveling woman, and you bend to her! Let her turn you like a- – PROCTOR: shaking her Do you look for a whippin’?”. In this snip of the conversation between the two, Abigail seemed very worried and eager and seems as if she’s blaming Proctor for some damages that Elizabeth has caused and also appears to be poking fun at how Proctor follows Elizabeth’s commands and doesn’t do anything for himself but for his wife. Nonetheless, Abigail was in fear of her name being tarnished alongside with the punishment to her, but not to the mercy of others.

Finally, the most important reason fear makes people act unreasonable is John Proctor feared having his reputation being ruined and have his name be tarnished up on the church and town. John Proctor is the tragic hero of the play, he’s a farmer, husband, and father who happened to get wrapped up in the tragedy of the trials. Nearing the end of the climax, Proctor admitted him having an affair with Abigail Williams. On it reads, “ABIGAIL: Mr. Danforth, he is lying! – PROCTOR: Mark her! Now she’ll suck a scream to stab me with but…DANFORTH: You will prove this! This will not pass! – PROCTOR: trembling, his life collapsing about him I have known her, sir. I have known her” . Through this interaction, Proctor admitted to his leechary/affair with Abigail Williams as she tried to deny it. Not only that but, Proctor signs a confession paper to the church for part with the Devil and for being a leecher. Its quotes, “PROCTOR: I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!”. Proctor in this scene signed the confession but refused to hand his signature over to keep his name from it being deteriorated upon the church. Just the same, John Proctor feared having his reputation being ruined and have his name be tarnished up on the church and town.

Indeed, while fear may be used as a way to keep people in check, fear makes people act unreasonable. As seen with, Mary Warren with her fear of being killed, throwing another under the spotlight to save herself. Abigail Williams fear of being caught and having her name be tarnished, so she threatened others to keep a good reputation. And finally John Proctor who feared the thought of having his name be hung on the church for all to see his sins and to soil his name. Fear is the one thing to be afraid of since it can be used to manipulate many with fears and make them act irrationally which gives them false hope of security. In Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’, he uses the idea of fear in the story to show how fear can manipulate one’s mind and warp it to save themselves.

The Crucible and Today’s Society

We are in the 21st century but the crucible is still relevant to today’s society after 50 years ago with writing but it includes many issues such as justice, reputation, hysteria, intolerance, empowerment, also revenge, pre- juices, jealousy, love, and hate was and still is behind all of that. The main lesson and reputation after the crucible is a reputation which for example in the crucible show John Proctor who fears that his affairs with Abigail harm his reputation. In this society, we will take the example of Donald Trump that only cares about his reputation, for example, some research shows that his mom was an immigrant but he doesn’t like immigrants because he thinks that will affect him.

The second is justice in the crucible. Justice was supposed to be made by God and Hathroney, Danforth, Hale, and Paris were all part of the system that’s why before they killed John and two other women they started saying prayers. I would say just for Today life will be for example when you have a murder and someone is accused you will have DNA text and other laboratory work to find the truth. The next one will be revenge. Revenge is big based on the crucible is when Abigail decided to stab herself and lied to just accused John’s wife because pregnant and John rejected her but today we prefer our vengeance for the more serious problems by calling the police on them.

In the crucible, the town of Salem turns on each other and falls into a bad hysteria situation, for example, Abigail started yelling and accused Marry of witchery then all of the girl’s started doing the same thing but in today’s life people will be triggered by water accident and they will suddenly think that they are really sick even when they are perfectly fine. An example of intolerance will be between judges because John and his friend tried to prove that Abigail lied but they trusted them or believed them. An example of intolerance in today’s life will be the difference between different religions and their beliefs. Empowerment in the crucible will be Abigail being considered as God in the witch Trials then all of the girls followed everything she does. As empowered definition today you have women that know what they want and their strengths then they are not scared to use it. An example of prejudice in the crucible will be the girls that suffer from ageism. Today you have gender prediction or discrimination. They even hold black people suffering a lot for their skin color.

In the Crucible Abigail had a lot of jealousy for Elizabeth’s proctor she wants it her to die then she will get John and you also have Putman who wants Jacobs to die for him to get his land. In today’s society, we have a lot of jealous people I will take, for example, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry Mary. Sources said that Katy stole Taylor’s dancers by paying them money to come with her. In the Crucible Abigail used her charm on everybody her love for John Proctor is accused of witchcraft. Kim and Kanye West is the best example of love in Today’s society they started as friends and Kanye married her after all of the mistakes made. Abigail did all the things that she did because of her anger and the hate she is carrying in her heart.

Today’s society has many crimes committed for hate and for example I have a Pennsylvania Man charged with a Federal hate crime for the tree of the life Synagogue shooting. In some way, the crucible was a big moment in history and will still be relevant somehow with religious fears, politics, social life, and many others. How many things are advanced and many conflicts are getting better with time because of the development of technology and life which as a jury trial.

References

1. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/FCR4blZtjvc.
2. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crucible/.
3. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crucible/characters/.
4. Iveta. (2018, October 15). What’s Wrong With Today’s Society Captured In 102 Brutally Honest Illustrations. Retrieved from https://www.boredpanda.com/todays-problems-illustrations-john-holcroft/.

Crucible is a game about revenge and power. Abigail Williams exploits the whole city to do her bidding, depending on her desire to keep her dignity and eventually have the man she loves. Abigail becomes one of the game’s biggest opponents by using his deceptive and favorite antics. Abigail’s qualities, motives, and arguments are essential to Crucible’s conspiracy.

Abigail Williams can be described in many words. Someone is cheating. At the moment we meet Abigail has been quickly described as one of the ‘unlimited distribution forces’. his deception and his deceptive behavior a major causes of chaos in the Salem Witch trials. Another factor is retaliation. Abigail loves John Proctor, but his wife Elizabeth fired him and began to start rumors about him. o come back to him again Finally, John, and Elizabeth accuse him of practicing witchcraft. Also, when Mary Warren tries to tell the truth At the end of the match, Abigail pretends to be spiritually attacked and tries to stop Mary from speaking the truth. Finally, Abigail Williams is selfish. He shows no remorse for causing the deaths of 20 innocent people all because of his will John also maintained his dignity.

Abigail’s motives were based on her personality. One of his main reasons for causing the Witch Hunters should accuse Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft. Abigail believes that by doing so you will eventually be able to with his lover and ‘dance with me in my wife’s grave.’ This encouragement came at the time Abigail and John Proctor started by starting their relationship which could lead to the belief that they can be more than lovers. This encouragement is shown when Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft and resolves John’s refusal to have Abigail and confess her adultery. Another motive for Abigail is to save her reputation. For the first time Times gets to know him, he says ‘No blush in my name.’ and ‘My name is beautiful in the valley.’, He Also and then outraged when asked about the rumors spread by Goody Proctor. Also, when found in the forest, Instead of admitting that she is a witch, she wishes to save herself by being forced to do so it. This incentive carries the whole game, as it begins to be sued by witches and continues with everything anyone’s game that says girls are cheating on them or trying to cheat them is immediately accused of witchcraft.

This is finally resolved when Abigail flees the city to start a new life elsewhere. Abigail’s motives are directly related to her arguments in the game. The biggest internal problem is that of his lack of self-confidence. Abigail is unsure of her ability to defend John as her own, and she has to plead guilty to the witch’s wife with the intent to kill him to have him. Also, because of his insecurity of being poor and his reputation being tarnished, he begins to blame others for lying and This is a little bit resolved when Abigail finally leaves Salem. Her lack of confidence in having the dignity of a ‘prostitute’ and being seen as a liar

Very much and he runs away. His biggest battle was going to be his love for John. He wants to be with her with all his heart, but she rejects him and calls him a prostitute. He says he “puts knowledge into my heart” and he desires that he should not rend that to him. This has never really been resolved because Abigail still loves her even when the game is over, anyway he rejected her and chose to flee from that heartache.

Abigail Williams’ sophisticated character and selfish actions can be seen in all of Salem Witch’s writings Temptations. With his personality, conflicts, and motives, he plans to disrupt the rest of the city’s mass deaths. Abigail is very opposed to the game and is a doll champion after all events.

Abigail Williams from The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, both lied to gain fame and respect. They knew their actions were hurting people and were far from the truth, but they continued to expand their lies. Within both stories, the main characters are purposefully creating problems that result in making a situation far worse than what was expected. The issues within the two stories eventually got out of control, and the main characters were exposed for their reckless actions. When a person begins to harm others in the pursuit of a higher status, they have a larger impact and contribute to a systemic problem.

These people take advantage of their situation and those around them for their own personal benefit. Elizabeth Holmes was a young entrepreneur who lied her way to fame. She knew her machines did not work and gave out false results, but she continued her testing because they brought her fame and respect. According to the journalist, “Holmes and Balwani knew their analyzer had accuracy and reliability problems, performed a limited number of tests, was slower than some competing devices, and, in some respects, could not compete with existing conventional machines” (“Theranos”). This emphasizes the fact that the Theranos company knew what they were doing was illegal and only continued to advertise the machines to benefit themselves. The false results Holmes’ machines gave out harmed the lives of thousands in the process. Holmes continued to expand her company, knowingly committing fraud. Elizabeth deepened her voice to seem more masculine and gain respect in the business world. The way she presented herself professionally tricked the world into believing she was the next revolutionary in the medical field.

As with Elizabeth Holmes, Abigail Williams had also taken advantage of a situation for her own personal benefit. She was a young girl in Salem whose uncle was the town’s reverend. She was treated like a child and craved the respect she believed she deserved. While working with the Proctor family, she slept with John Proctor and began to obsess over him. When she began to dream of marrying him, she started to believe that she needed to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor, his wife. When John Proctor was in court, he confessed, “I have known her, sir. I have known her” (Miller 110). When Elizabeth (Goody) was questioned, she denied the affair to save her husband’s name. Abigail knew there were no witches in Salem, but pretended there were to try and have Goody Proctor killed. She knew those she had accused were innocent people, and she knew that accusing them would lead to their deaths. The town praised her for her bravery to accuse the witches, and as Elizabeth Proctor described, “where she walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel” (Miller 52-53). This biblical allusion proves how Abigail was seen as an important figure in the town. The Puritans in Salem are well known for their religion being highly respected, and this proved her level of worship by comparing Abigail to a high status, religious figure. Abigail enjoyed being powerful and respected within the community, and continued to accuse anyone who tried to stop her. She used their fears to take advantage of the situation.

When a person is manipulative and is able to convince a mass of people to believe they are trustworthy, they add to the systemic problem. Holmes presented herself professionally and had everyone believing that she made a medical breakthrough with her Theranos machines. She was described as wearing “black turtlenecks in blatant imitation of Steve Jobs. She handled her elders the way a snake charmer handles snakes” (Carreyrou). In order to gain respect, Holmes not only faked her technology, she faked her appearance. She talked deeper than her normal voice and copied Steve Jobs’ appearance to seem more respectable. For sixteen years, Elizabeth tricked the entire world. Her entire career and billion dollar company were built off lies. Holmes’ actions are described as, “Holmes, no doubt, told them [the world] what they wanted to hear” (Carreyrou). This is the most accurate description of Elizabeth Holmes there is. She knew the results were inaccurate, but continued to sell her lie since it brought her fame and wealth.

Abigail Williams was also able to manipulate a large mass of people and appear trustworthy. She tricks the town into believing her almost instantly because religion is the center of their lives. When they heard accusations that the Devil is among them, the Puritans are frightened and want to eliminate the problem immediately. In Act One, Abigail is screaming to the reverends and the other girls, “I want to open myself! I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil” (Miller 48). To this, Putnam says, “The marshal, I’ll call the marshal!” (Miller 48). They automatically believed Abigail and exempted her from all punishment. She had them believed that the Devil made her dance in the woods and laugh in church. She convinced the town that the Devil was telling her who was guilty and used this to her advantage. Throughout the play, Abigail is brought into court to testify who is guilty and falsely accuse more innocent people. Those accused have no power in court because the court officials believe everything Abigail is saying is factual. Abigail used their Puritan beliefs to her advantage to manipulate them.

A character or person who becomes too obsessed with power and is unable to deal with the situation when caught in their own lies, can contribute to the systemic problem. Elizabeth Holmes was caught committing fraud when it was proven her machines provided false results. “The ability to measure numerous things on a tiny amount of blood is not rare’…doing so using fingertip blood, rather than blood extracted from veins, is difficult…” (Grossman). Many scientists were impressed to hear of this revolutionary medical technology created by a nineteen year old college dropout. They believed she was the key to the future of science. Soon, her name and her technology was raved about and spread throughout the country like wildfire. When her platform began to crumple, TIME Magazine released an article stating, “you can do bad science in Silicon Valley, but Theranos should have attracted scrutiny long before it did” (Grossman). Elizabeth Holmes spent sixteen years building up a fake company, and now that she was caught lying, she is awaiting trial in 2020. Her reputation that began as a brilliant, young revolutionary, is now in tatters, and she is seen as a fraud.

Similarly to Eizabeth Holmes, Abigail Williams was also caught in her own lies and let the power get to her head. When she believed she had done everything right and could now live a full life with John Proctor, she met him in his jail cell to convince him to run away with her. When he denies her, he tells her that the next time they would see each other would be in hell. When Reverend Parris discovered that both Abigail and his thirty-one pounds was missing, he realized that she ran and told Danforth three days later. Parris reports, “My niece, sir, my niece-I believe she has vanished” (Miller 126). Now Danforth and everyone is slowly realizing that their number one victim/accuser has runaway, which causes a panic. As the story went on, she felt less powerful because no one wanted to associate with her in fear of being accused next. Unable to handle the pressure, heartbreak, and guilt she felt, Abigail ran away from her problems when they became too much and spiraled out of control. Abigail is now said to have been found as a prostitute in Boston many years later.

When a person begins to harm others while trying to achieve a higher status in society, they impact and contribute to a systemic problem. Both Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Holmes are guilty of manipulating society, becoming obsessed with their newly found power and are unable to deal with the situation, and take advantage of their situation for their own personal benefit. They both began as young girls with dreams of being treated with respect and ended with their secrets being exposed and lost all of the respect they had earned. When trying to have their voices be heard, they based their platform off of lies. Abigail and Elizabeth have created the problem instead of the solution.

Works Cited

1. Carreyrou, John. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. Picador, 2019.
2. Grossman, Lev. “The Fall of Theranos and the Future of Science in Silicon Valley.” TIME Magazine, vol. 187, no. 18, May 2016, pp. 25–26. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=115147762&site=ehost-live
3. Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play In Four Acts. New York : Penguin Books, 1976. Print. “Theranos Founder Holmes, Former President Indicted for Fraud.” REUTERS. Health Reference Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17729&itemid=WE48&reutersId=424119. Accessed 18 Oct. 2019.