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Dahlia Ruoss
Ms. Boydstun
Challenging Americans
October 29, 2020
The Crucible as a Cautionary Tale
The Crucible is a cautionary tale as it warns society of what will happen if hysteria take

over. Hysteria can happen to practically anyone in any situation if it is given the right

opportunity. The Crucible is simply an example of this played out to an extreme. The crucible is

a timeless tale of the outcome of a town engulfed with hysteria and its relevance will always be

prevalent, now more than ever as the media plays such a large role in our society, and hysteria

can be caught in mass numbers extremely quickly.

There are many factors that play into allowing the hysteria to form. In The Crucibles’

case it was their religion, lying in places of power, and just how society was back in their times.

They were not very logical in the ways that they approached their accusations and the trails as

well. It caught like wild fire over a simple lie that then evolved into what it began.

"What shall I say to them? That my daughter and my niece I discovered dancing like

heathen in the forest?" (7)

This was the first lie that took place as Paris and Abigail decide to lie and adjust the truth

of what happened in the forest. Abigail and Proctor were prestigious members of their town and

had reputations that they could not bear to tarnish. They lied repeatedly, and their lies spread

throughout the town and caused gossip. Instead of admitting to their faults, they added to the

hysteria and kept lying.

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ABIGAIL WILLIAMS: I want to open myself...I want the light of god...I danced for the

devil; I saw him I wrote in his book...I saw Sarah Good, Goody Osburn, Bridget Bishop with the

Devil! (45)

She also used the hysteria as a way to get revenge on those who she does not like. Not

only did she lie for herself, but she brought in girls to lie with her and she tore down her fellow

townspeople. This caused the hysteria to increase even more. This was one of the main examples

of how the hysteria began in the crucible.

"ABIGAIL, in a temper: My name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name

is soiled! Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar!" (12)

The Crucible will forever be a cautionary tale because it will always be prevalent. We

will always have a society that there is a risk hysteria will catch. Now more than every hysteria is

a risk because of the technology we have. The media plays such a heavy role in our every day

lives, and everyone has access to it. Anyone can post practically whatever they want, and people

will see it and even believe it if they target the right audience. In our society, everything is

“viral”. You can watch a 14 second video that has millions of views and never see it again. The

internet also is not always true. If something goes viral that has dangerous and untruthful

information, hysteria can catch easily to millions of people. The people of Salem used the

hysteria as a way to get revenge on their enemies, the same can be applied now except people are

able to do it without even being face to face. They can say whatever and receive no

consequences which makes this situation even more risky.

Of course there will be a few people who escape the hysteria and use their logic to see

what is truly going on, such as Mr. Hale who understood that the witchcraft was truly a means
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for revenge. There will always be some who escape the hysteria, but they will be overwhelmed

by the mass amount of people who have been engulfed in it, and they may have to mask their

opinions to keep themselves safe.

The Crucible cations us with lying especially. A few girls’ lies caused the whole town to

go crazy, what would happen when millions of people decide to stick together and lie about

something? Hysteria caught in The Crucible within days, and only by word of mouth. Now, we

have the ability to share something to thousands of millions of people in seconds. It is a

cautionary tale that can be applied to any situation by the way we interpret it and apply it to our

own lives.

The Crucible is a cautionary tale of hysteria. We should read it and understand how it is

warning us and make sure not to fall into hysteria again especially in our time of technology and

media. Hysteria can be avoided if we do not allow it as a whole, although this can be difficult at

times.

Work Cited

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play In Four Acts. New York : Penguin Books, 1976.

Print.
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Honor Pledge: I give my word and honor that I have neither given nor received any

authorized aid on this assignment. --Dahlia Ruoss