The Crucible: Characters :: Essay on The Crucible

The Crucible CharactersChetan Patel     The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller that was stolon produced in 1953,is based on the true story of the Salem femme fatale Trials of 1692. Miller wrote theplay to parallel the situations in the mid-twentieth century of Alger Hiss,Owen Lati more(prenominal), Julius and Ethel Rosenburg, and Senator McCarthy, if solitary(prenominal)suggestively. (Warshow 116) few characters in the play have specific agendascarried out by their accusations, and the occurrence that the play is based onhistorical truth makes it even more intriguing.     The characters in this play ar simple, habitual people. The accused are charged and convicted of a crime that is impossible to prove. The following witchery hysteria takes aspire in one of Americas wholesome, theocratic towns,which makes the miscarriage of justice such(prenominal) a mystery even today. The reasonsthe villains select the people they do for condemnation are both simple andclear. All of the accusers have ulterior motives, such as revenge, greed, andcovering up their own behavior. Many of the accusers have meddled in witchcraftthemselves, and are therefore doubly to be distrusted. (Warshow 116) The courtconvicts the victims on the most absurd testimony, and the reader has to wonderhow the judges and the townspeople could let such a charade continue.     The leading character of the play is John Proctor, a man who oftenserves as the only voice of reason in the play. He had an affair with AbigailWilliams, who later charges his wife with witchcraft. Proctor is seemingly theonly person who can see through the childrens accusations. The reader sees himas one of the more "modern" figures in the trials because he is hardheaded,skeptical, and a voice of common sense. He thinks the girls can be cured oftheir "spells" with a good whipping. (Warshow 114) At the end of the play,Proctor has to make a choice. He can all confess to a crime he is innocentof to save himself from execution, or die proclaiming his innocence. He ends upchoosing death because a false vindication would mean implicating former(a) accusedpeople, including Rebecca Nurse. (Rovere 2632) Proctor feels she is good andpure, unlike his illicit self, and does not want to tarnish her good name andthe names of his other innocent friends by implicating them. (Warshow 117) Bychoosing death, Proctor takes the high road and becomes a true tragic hero. Thereader feels that his punishment is unjust (especially since the crime ofwitchcraft is imagined and unprovable.) Because the trials take place in aChristian, American town, the reader mustiness then wonder if anything like this