Crucible: Act 1

In Act One of the story the Crucible by Arthur Miller, religion plays a huge role in the starting of the plot. The story takes place in the time of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch trials were sparked by the fear of superstitions and anything that had to do with it. They were Puritans, so their entire life was based around their religion and God. The Puritans believed that God controlled every aspect of their lives. The Puritans also believed that you were predestined; that is, God specifically chose who was destined to go to heaven and who was destined to go to hell. This was all predetermined in their eyes, so there was really never any knowing of who was the "select" and who was not. Because of this obsession with wanting to be a "select," the Puritans (which is including the citizens of Salem, Virginia) were extremely afraid of anything that was out of the norm. They felt like being different from the general population indicated that you did not agree with their beliefs; therefore, you belived or were overpowered by the devil. Obviously, no one wanted to deal with the devil if they were trying to buy their ticket to heaven. When the girls are caught dancing in the woods naked, it startles the people of Salem because it is clearly not normal. During this time in history, the punishment for acts of witchcraft or witchery was the death penalty, usually by that of hanging. The only way to get out of the embarrassment of what they were doing was to make up stories that they were witches. One character in particular that causes the most trouble. She is pretty much a brat and forces these girls to tell stories of being witches, and blaming other innocent people of also commiting acts of witchery. To avoid getting in more trouble than what they were already going to, the people were forced to confess. Abigail is also having relations with Mr. Procter. She is a freak. So far in the story, Abigail is starting problems within the community by sparking the massive fear of the supernatural. From here, it was a downward spiral for the colonists. As Act One ended, there are many problems arising within the community and it is easy to see that a resolution may not be in the near future.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.