Petko 1

Tana Petko

Fannon/Bays

English II

11 November 2016

Puritan Ideals Compared to Todays Ideals

In Arthur Miller explains how the Puritans grasped good and evil concepts in his play

The Crucible, the author also explains how this aspect is still prevalent in todays modern

American society. The Puritans in 1692 held the belief of God and the Devil to explain the

unexplainable; opposing forces that dealt with the good and evils of the world. If someone could

not explain something terrible it was the works of Lucifer. If something amazingly

unconceivable took place it was God, the miracle worker. Today we still hold these thoughts,

although now only to an extent.

For instance, we have always been threatened with the evilness of the devil to keep

people from sinning. As Miller says, the necessity of the Devil may become evident as a

weapon, a weapon designed and used time and time again in every age to whip men into a

surrender to a particular church or church-state (Crucible 156). Puritans used their ideals of

Good and Evil to keep people under the rule of the church. Today it is used to keep people in

line, not necessarily under the influence of the church but still under control.

The Puritans used fear tactics to uphold the expected standards of the community. We use

this same tactic in our society today. For example, any idea that opposes their views is

automatically wrong. Miller explains, while there were no witches then, there are Communists

and capitalists now (Crucible 156). In saying this he is giving an example of how we are

exposed to these ideals in todays world.

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In conclusion, we are still exposed to this way of thinking, just in different contexts. As a

child we are immediately taught the good and bad of the world around us. As an adult we explain

why we think this way, and how it is the proper view. Arthur explains how the Puritans grasped

the good and evil compare to what we are exposed to in our modern society today.