Encountering Conflict in The Crucible Essay

A reaction is simply a response to another event or object, in this case it is our response to conflict and our reaction will always determine the outcome. It would be impossible for it not to, however as conflict is often associated with a negative connotation we immediately think that many will react in a negative way though this is not always the case. Conflict can be inflamed either emotionally or physically.

First of all there are many types of conflicts therefore how we react to them differs. One type of conflict is sexual. Many people react highly irrationally as it involves strong emotions. Often people are full of anger if they find they have been cheated on, or sad if they have to choose between the love of one person or another, also the deep smouldering fire inside full of passion and desire for another person. When you are faced with one aspect of sexual conflict. In the crucible John Proctor is heavily stung by these sexual conflicts as he once gave in to the desire between him and Abigail which impacted on the conflict that arose between Elizabeth Proctor and himself. John felt guilty after the affair whereas Elizabeth reacted like a wintry women with a forever marching funeral around your (her) heart. However Abigail reacts with anger and seeks revenge on the woman who took her man away. From this it influenced her to act with vengeance against Elizabeth.

Conflict can also arise amongst the community so various members of the community can act in an irrational way. This can cause instances of mass paranoia and an over reaction of those who have power who are able to influence those beneath them. This is portrayed throughout The Crucible especially when they are scared of any sort of ties with Lucifer. The group of girls which are led under the influence of Abigail Williams, are terribly frightened that Abby will hurt them if they confess to dancing in the forbidden woods so they accuse many of the community of rash accusations. Unfortunately as the community starts to blindly follow along which was not overly difficult in such a strict puritan community that doesnt believe in any sort of vain enjoyment. This is how the mass hysteria spread as soon as Abigail released that strong emotions are easily able to manipulate a group of weak minded people.

As Abigail exploits the situation she manages to blow the initial issue out of proportion when this is done the entire situation is unnecessarily inflamed and disastrous aftermaths occur. Such as when Tituba receives the blame and takes the heat of the initial fault of Abigails.

Overall if by any means it is abundantly clear that the way you react to conflict has a large impact on the way in which conflict is performed. Our cognitive and behavioural processes largely are due to how we react either with anger, logicality or thoughtfulness.