The Dark Side of Human Nature
By: Gavin Ho
Imagine a society where certain individuals are incriminated, and the matter of confessing is a life or death scenario. How does this impact others? What becomes of the end outcome? The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, centers around the events of the witch trials in Salem, a strict Puritan town. The extreme nature of the witch hunts and how they are carried out, exacerbates the negative feelings of individuals, causing them to make irrational decisions. It is due to these factors that the young women of Salem made such outrageous accusations against their fellow townsfolk.
One of the girls, Abigail, has a long hatred for Elizabeth Proctor, and uses the witch hunts to incriminate Elizabeth. Abigail used to work for the Proctor household, but was fired by Elizabeth Proctor for having an affair with her husband, John Proctor. Since then, Abigail has come to hate Elizabeth. Abigail was caught dancing in the woods with other girls, an event which she started intended to hurt Elizabeth. Her cousin Betty even accuses her after they are caught. “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!” (Pg. 19). When Reverend Hale is questioning the girls, he makes the consequences clear. If they admit to witchcraft, they must also point out other witches in the town. Reverend Hale carries out the questioning in an extreme way, threatening to kill people, or aggressively interrogate others. Throughout the book, similar behaviors of this are shown through individuals such as Judge Danforth, when he questions Mary Warren. Abigail wants to acquit herself, and decides to admit to witchcraft. She is then able to use confession to her advantage, claiming Elizabeth is a witch. In the end, Abigail still accomplishes her original intention of hurting Elizabeth. Although Abigail expresses discontent towards Elizabeth, the severity of how the witch trials were conducted caused Abigail’s hatred to be taken a step further, publicly incriminating Elizabeth with a high offense, before intending to kill her.
Similarly to Abigail, Mrs. Putnam has a dislike for Rebecca Nurse, which grows into an intent to kill Rebecca through the witch trials. Rebecca has served as Mrs. Putnam’s midwife eight times. Out of all of Mrs. Putnam’s pregnancies, only one baby survived. Mrs. Putnam initially grieves about her loss. Mrs. Putnam’s grief then grows into a suspicion of Rebecca causing her babies to die. When the witch trials begin, Putnam accuses Rebecca of being a witch and killing her babies. “They (the babies) were murdered, Mr. Parris! And mark this proof! Mark it!” (Pg. 16). Mrs. Putnam has a suspicion Rebecca may have killed her babies, and this suspicion morphs into Rebecca possibly being a witch. As mentioned before, the extreme way the witch trials were carried out incites extreme fear of anger. Although Mrs. Putnam has long disliked Rebecca, the witch trials make Mrs. Putnam believe that Rebecca was a witch who killed her babies. Mrs. Putnam does not have the need to acquit herself like Abigail, but she definitely views it as a rare opportunity to carry out revenge on Rebeca, even though she suspects without any proof. The extreme way witch trials were carried out have brought out Mrs. Putnam’s anger, which eventually is used to incriminate Rebecca. Again, the extremity of the situation allows for individuals to make irrational decisions that they would otherwise make.
Important characters of the witch trial testimonials are the group of girls who danced in the woods. They fear their survival, which drives them to make false accusations. At the beginning, they are being questioned, and their main objective is to stay innocent and survive. When Hale questions Tituba, Parris’ slave who was also in the woods, he makes an ominous threat. “You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!” (Pg. 44). After more demands and questioning, Tituba decides to give in, admitting to witchcraft. As a slave, Tituba has no power or authority, which makes her the most submissive. The extreme methods of questioning makes Tituba fear her survival, and Tituba ends up confessing to witchcraft, and condemning other women. Tituba’s fear for survival is clearly reflected upon the other girls, who want to get out of trouble, and are now willing to blame others in the town. While we have touched upon how extremity affects those who have hatred or resentment towards another individual, the extremity of the witch hunts brings out the fear for survival in these girls and Tituba, forcing them to do anything, including anything morally wrong. It is again, the extremity of the situation which allows for such outrageous claims to be made.
The Salem witch trials detailed in The Crucible were a catalyst for the group of young women’s extreme behavior. Exacerbating the hatred to certain individuals or other’s fear for survival, the extremity of the witch trials caused the girls to act irrationally. While the girls fundamentally have traits that make them dislike certain people, or fear death, they would never commit such outrageous acts without the extremity of the Salem Witch Hunts.
