Commentary on The Crucible Essay

Does fear motivate you to make decisions? For people in Salem, Massachusetts during the witch hunts, it was the only motivation they had. People were accusing people of witchcraft not because it was true; because they were scared they were going to be deemed a witch by someone in Salem. For example Tituba, the maid for Reverend Parris and his family was accused of being a witch. She pleaded not guilty and then was beaten till she said she was a witch. Obviously she was lying to stop the pain but why would someone do that? Because they were afraid. This tactic of using fear to get what you want was not just used during the witch trials. During the 1950s the author, Arthur Miller was challenged by the government to tell them which of his friends were communists. Here they try to use fear to get the public to tell them what they want to hear. In the play The Crucible by Author Miller, fear is the main motivation for the people of Salem, Massachusetts.

As these witch hunts got more intense one of the first people to be accused was Tituba, Reverend Parriss family maid. Tituba was accused by Abigail and the Afflicted Girls, these girls told this lie because they were afraid and wanted to get the attention off themselves. Tituba was then thoroughly questioned by reverend Hale and reverend Parris, at first Tituba said that she was a good Christian woman and did not compact with the devil. Then they said we are going to beat you to your death until you tell us youre a witch. Tituba was whipped a couple times then out of fear of more pain said she compacted with the devil. This act was completely out of fear and like others in the town of Salem fear was their only motivation.

However, Tituba was not the only person wrongfully accused of being a witch. John Proctor was also accused of being a witch; this is surprising to the people of Salem because John Proctor was in their minds a good Christian man. People did not know though that John had an affair with Abigail Williams, one of the afflicted girls. Abigail is trying to get back at john because he wont be with her. John is afraid of being hanged and leaving his family. Judge Danforth and Judge Hawthorne are instilling fear into John when they say they are going to kill him. John lets this fear overcome him and he lies and says that he has compacted with the devil, just like Tituba and the others who lied and are in jail.

These witch hunts were not the only time in history were people used fear to get people to do what they wanted. During the 1950s the United States was in a nuclear race with the Soviet Union (Russia). People were living scared, not just because of the nuclear power the Soviet Union had, because the government was scared if there were communists in the U.S. This idea called McCarthyism originated from Senator Joseph McCarthy. He believed that there were communist living in America spying on the U.S. This made the U.S. government feel that they need to find these communists and put them jail. The author of the play Arthur Miller was questioned by the government; they asked which one of his friends was a communist. Miller wouldnt tell, the government tried to use fear and threats in order for him to confess. He wouldnt confess and was thrown in jail until the U.S. realized that there were no communists spying on them. This also relates to The Crucible because instead of the panic being communists its the devil and witches. Even within the past 50 years scare tactics have been used in order for people to get what they want.

Furthermore, whether it is during the witch hunts or during the nuclear race people use fear to try to get people to do what they want. In The Crucible the judges try to instill fear into innocent people. Also, during the 50s searching for communists in the United States and McCarthyism scaring the people of America. Using fear to get people to do what you want was and still is a very effective tactic and has been used throughout time.