Term Papers on The Crucible: Deterioration Of Social Order In Salem

Term Paper Title	The Crucible: Deterioration Of Social Order In Salem
# of Words	785
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.14

The Crucible: Deterioration of Social Order In Salem

     The trumped-up witch hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts, deteriorated the
rational, and emotional stability of its citizens. This exploited the
populations weakest qualities, and insecurities. The obvious breakdown in
Salem's social order led to the tragedy which saw twenty innocent people hung on
the accusation of witchcraft. Arthur Miller, author of The Crucible, used
hysteria to introduce personality flaws in vulnerable characters. A rigid
social system, fear, and confusion were evident conditions that became
prevalent before and during the witchtrials. These conditions only contributed
to the tragedy in Salem.

     The isolation of the Puritan society created a rigid social system that
did not allow for any variation in lifestyle. The strict society that was
employed at this time had a detrimental effect on the Proctor family. John
Proctor, a hard working farmer who had a bad season the year before and
struggling this year was occasionally absent at Sunday service. This was due to
the fact he needed to tend to his crops. Also, Proctor did not agree with the
appointment of Mr. Parris as the newest minister, and therefore did not have
his last child baptized. With the latest craze of witchery and swirling
accusations, John Proctor was easily indicted of being a messenger for the
devil by the testimony of his disillusioned servant Mary Warren, who in the
past committed perjury. The court who heard the testimony easily accepts it
because she is a church going person, while John Proctor slightly deviates from
the norm. This transfer of blame is also noticeable when the truth is first
discovered about what the girls were doing in the woods. The girls were not
blamed. The blame was put on Tituba, the “black” slave who was said to have “
charmed” the girls. Abigail swears that “she [Tituba] made me do it”.(pg.40) It
is obvious that in the Puritan society that whatever did not conform to what
the masses had decided as proper, then the deviated, but innocent, were to
blame. This practice contributed to the tragedy in Salem.

     The fear of what was unknown created an uneasiness within Salem's
population that added to Salem's social demise. The circumstances surrounding
the witchtrials gave residents something to blame the supernatural on. The
condemning of Tituba was mainly due to this. When Tituba took the girls into
the woods, and they performed their ceremony, something the Puritans were not...

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