The crucible 2

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 11th grade February 2008

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"THE CRUCIBLE" By ARTHUR MILLER ESSAY QUESTION: "Miller tries to show that conflict in "The Crucible" stems from certain recognisable human failings such as greed, vengeance, jealousy, ambition, fear and hysteria." Discuss this statement and, where possible, refer to specific instances from the play to support your argument.

Life as a human is dictated by an inborn hunger or purpose, and people, in general, will act on this hunger for their own personal gain in their individual ways. This hunger, be it for wealth, land, love, power, revenge, or pride, can, and will be the undoing or failing of all mankind as Miller so clearly points out in his play "The Crucible". This essay will explore the motives of characters within the play and even the motives of Arthur Miller himself and therefore show how conflict stems from certain recognisable human failings including those mentioned above, fear, and hysteria.

Reverend Parris is the character that initiates the hysteria of the Salem witch trials, in a community where authorities wasted no time minding the business of it's citizens, what should have been seen as teen frivolity was blown into one of the ugliest moments in American History.

Parris sparks this by firstly acting on his own paranoia, which the reader would find in the introduction "he believed he was being persecuted where ever he went", and calling Reverend Hale in an attempt for self-preservation "….if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it." This statement says a lot about the character of Reverend Parris: a greedy, power hungry man who is more concerned with his own reputation than the souls of his niece and daughter. He always acts on fear, a fear that he...