About a Dramatized the Crucible by Arthur Miller

It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the real life Salem Witch Trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts during 1692- 1693. Many innocent people were wrongfully accused of witchery and put on trial for things that they didn’t commit. Many of those people were punished simply because they didn’t want to confess to lies and weren’t going to be manipulated. Some characters of the play include John Proctor who is often referred to as the protagonist, and Abigail Williams who many like to think of as the antagonist because of her manipulative ways and lies.

In my opinion, Abigail Williams is ultimately the more central character because of the many conflicts that she has started, like leading a group of girls into the woods with Tituba. When they are caught doing so, Abigail blames Tituba for leading them there to avoid getting in trouble. Abigail is like the source of all of the trouble that has suddenly emerged. She constantly lies and makes things up so she isn’t caught doing all of these bad things. She also leads that same group of girls and they lie and make a big deal if witchcraft, which leads to all of these false accusations of many innocent people. All of these accusations eventually lead to the downfall of John Proctor. His wife was accused among with many other people and soon after her, so was John Proctor. He later on confesses to adultery because he had an affair with Abigail Williams. John had also had to confess to witchery in hopes of saving himself. Even after verbally confessing, the court wanted a written confession but he refused to sign it because it would ruin his name. His anguished cries emerged because he really didn’t want his name tied to deception and manipulation.

If his name is ruined because of manipulation, then there would be no way for him to repair his name. He won’t be able just get a new name. He would possibly be known as a corrupt man who committed adultery and witchcraft along with his wife. The court had basically taken away everything from him. This is presented when John shouts, “How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” Ultimately, John Proctor is met with the untimely fate many other people met and is hanged because he does not give the court what they want. John Proctor is not a “real” puritan because of what he has committed. He may not have committed witchery as many thought but he did commit adultery and many people from the town do not see him as a real puritan. Reason being, John rarely attended prayers on Sundays. This made him look really bad in court. His youngest son was also not baptized, which made him look even worse and suspicious. These opinions were reinforced when john could not name the Ten Commandments. Because of all of these opinions and judgements, many people from the town did not see Joh Proctor as a real puritan, but instead they saw him as a wizard. Therefore, knowing all of the things that John Proctor has committed, I do not believe that he is a real puritan, Abigail is not a real puritan as well. She lied to many people and manipulated plenty of other people. She is full of corruption and she is the reason that John Proctor was hanged. She started the lie of witches being in Salem, when in reality there were no witches and she just Christian Gomez 12/7/18 5 th period wanted to avoid getting in trouble for taking the group of girls to dance in the middle of the forest and do strange things. As discussed, this play portrays real life events that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts.

Although it is partially dramatized and fictionalized, many innocent people were wrongfully convicted and many people suffered for things that they did not commit. It was a time full of manipulation and dishonesty. Because of all of the wrongful convictions many people were hanged. Although many people suffered, plenty of people were set free because they confessed to witchery even though they hadn’t done anything. The reason that other people weren’t set is because they didn’t want to confess to lies and fake information. They wanted to preserve their names and they knew they were right and were willing to die because they knew they were innocent. John Proctor being an example of one of those people, verbally confessed but the court wanted a physical confession with his name on it and wanted it to be public so many people could see but he refused because it would ruin his name. He begged and pleaded for the court to believe him but in the end he was hanged. Because of false accusations, he was put on trial and was unlawfully penalized like many others. Annotations

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