“LESSONS BEHIND THE FIRST HALF BOOK OF

THE CRUCIBLE”
Name: Aisyah Muthia Rasyida

Date: Saturday, 1 March 2014

Theme: What do you think about the first half of the book The Crucible

The curcible is Arthur Miller’s book about the intersection of private sins with paranoia, hysteria,
and religious intolerance. There are four acts in this book, and the play is set in Salem,
Massachusetts, 1692. The government of Salem, and of Massachusetts as a whole, is a theocracy,
with the legal system based on the Christian Bible. Hard work and church consume the majority of a
Salem resident’s time. Within the community, there are simmering disputes over land. Matters of
boundaries and deeds are a source of constant, bitter disagreements.

The story in the first half of the book is about Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris’s daughter, who was
hiding her witchcarft activity. She did it on purpose to kill Elizabeth Proctor, because she loves her
husband, John Proctor. In the end of act one, Abigail, Tituba, and the other girl confesses to
communing with the devil, but then they hysterically accuse various townsfolk of consorting with the
devil. That’s how they saved from punishment.

A week later, alone in their farmhouse outside of town, John and Elizabeth Proctor discuss the
ongoing trials and the escalating number of townsfolk who have been accused of being witches.
Elizabeth knows that Abigail confess the truth to John Proctor, so she urges her husband to
denounce Abigail as a fraud. John proctor refuses, and she becomes jealous, accusing him of still
has feelings for Abigail. Mary Warren, their servant and one of Abigail’s circle, returns from Salem
with news that Elizabeth has been accused of witchcraft but the court did not pursue the accusation.
Then Reverend Hale, an expert on witchcraft who came to help Parris to solve the witchcraft
problem, visit their house. While they discuss matters, they hear the news that many other peoples
have been arrested. After that, Officers of the court suddenly arrive and arrest Elizabeth. After they
have taken her, Proctor insist Mary to go to Salem and expose Abigail and the other girls as frauds.

From the first half story of The curcible, we know in that time, in Salem, feelings of jealousy and
resentment have no outlet other than the court, which, in theocratic Salem, is also an institution of
religious authority. In the beginning, Tituba accuses the other people she hate for completes her
self-cleansing and make her self saved from punishment. In this manner, the admission of
involvement with witchcraft functions like the ritual of confession. But then, the entire community
of Salem is use the witch trials to become an outlet for the expression of economic, political, and
personal grudges through the manipulation of religious and moral authority.

In this story, the accusers are always automatically innocent, because many of the accusations have
come through the ritual confession of guilt—one confesses guilt and then proves one’s “innocence”
by accusing others. The accusing side enjoys a privileged position of moral virtue from this
standpoint. In supernatural crimes, the standards of evidence are not hard and fast. The only “proof”
is the word of the alleged victims of witchcraft. Therefore, those who take the side of the accusers
can claim theirselves in mission of doing God’s will in rooting out the devil’s work, while those who
challenge them are Devil’s slave.

We also know that reputation is tremendously important in theocratic Salem. In an environment

where reputation is very important, the fear of guilt by association becomes particularly pernicious.
The townsfolk of Salem try hard to keep their public reputation, so thet are affraid that the sins of
their friends and associates will taint their names. There are some examples of character who has
desire to protect their own reputation base on their actions. In the first act, Parris fears that Abigail’s
suspicious actions, and the rumor of witchcraft surrounding his daughter’s coma, will threaten his
reputation. Meanwhile, John Proctor, also trying to keep his good name from being tarnished. Early
in the play, he has a chance to stop the girls’ accusations, but because his desire to preserve his
reputation, he refuses to tell the truth so he can’t fight against Abigail.

So, until this part, we can conclude that people in that time accuse the other people to save from
the court and it’s punishment. The court also unfair, because they just believe people although they
have no proff in supernatural crimes. We can understand too that beside theocracy only favorable
for some groups, it makes people of Salem has a great desire to keep their reputation. Arhur Miller
also has message that he was trying to get across to the reader. That message is, people should be
aware of how much they can get swept up in hysteria, and what bad things can occur when
someone is afraid of something.