The Crucible By Arthur Miller - 838 Words

Dylan Miller Mr. Brown Period 9 30 November 2015 Mass Hysteria in Salem The Crucible by Arthur Miller in a play based off of the Salem Witch Trials. The play ends with the town in mass hysteria. A girl is struck with lust, an innocent slave is accused, and a man struggles to do the right thing. Three characters that influenced the development of mass hysteria throughout the play are Abigail Williams, Tituba, and John Proctor. Abigail Williams was a beautiful 17 year old girl. She was working as a servant for John and Goody Proctor when she and Proctor had an affair. Proctor realized that what he was doing was wrong. He told Abigail that they needed to end the affair. Proctor stated â€Å"No, no Abby. That is done with† (22). He gently pushed†¦show more content†¦Tituba also contributed to the end result of mass hysteria in the town. Tituba was Parris’ black slave from Barbados. She was known to be skilled in voodoo tricks from her native country. Before she came from Massachusetts, singing and dancing was not seen as being associated with the devil. She was blamed for everything. After Abigail manipulated her into indirectly killing Elizabeth, she knew she would have received punishment. The reason she contributed to chaos in the town was because of Abigail. Abigail was very manipulative, so she was able to make people do things she wanted them to do - not necessarily things they wa nted to do. As a result, Tituba was charged, jailed, and eventually hanged. Chaos started when Abigail lead Tituba into conjuring the devil while they were in the woods. Finally, John Proctor played a major role in the town’s chaos. He stopped going to church, refused to get his second son baptized by Reverend Parris, and would mow the lawn on Sundays. Reverend Hale took time on his own to visit the Proctors. Hale visited them to ask why Proctor had not been attending church on Sundays. Throughout the town, Sundays were to be portrayed as days of rest, and were to be spent at church. However, Proctor did not like Reverend Parris. He did not agree with what he was preaching. Proctor stated â€Å"I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation†¦ There are many others who stay