You are on page 1of 4

1

Jeet Patel Block 4

The Crucibles Faith-Fear Complexity Throughout human history, faith and fear have been intertwined in complex ways, from its zenith to some of the lowest. Over time, these two emotions have created a symbiotic relationship so complex that one cannot exist without the other. Fear can instill faith, while faith can instill fear. Arthur Miller plays on this conundrum of the relationship between faith and fear in his famous play, The Crucible, using the Salem Witch Trials as a prime example of the complexity this venture involves. An allegory for the McCarthyism that would rampage the United States almost 300 years after the Trials, the play insinuates a question about faith and fear that must be answered before delving deeper into the relationship: Which of the two comes first? The Crucible cleverly looks at both sides of the coin on the topic of whether faith causes fear or vice versa. The play portrays the Puritan town of Salem in the late 1600s; from the characters pious attitudes throughout the play, it can be inferred that there is a strong emphasis on one unifying religion and an aversion, or even fear, of any other religion. The people deem all those who do not follow the path of Christianity as the devils henchmen and are quick to persecute them. This society whose basic principle of conform or be persecuted creates a breeding ground for Groupthink, a psychological phenomenon in which a group of people who share beliefs will go to any means to obliterate dissent, and inevitably fear. Anything or anyone that is particularly unusual or unchristian is disavowed and ostracized. As the witch hunt drew on in Salem, even something as simple as not knowing the Ten Commandments were signs of the devil and immediately brought fear to many. The fear of those who did not follow the path set in stone for Puritans grows like wildfire. Townspeople such as Giles Corey began connecting unrelated items such as his wife reading strange books to his inability to pray while she does so. ..I tried and tried and could not say my prayers, he says to Reverend Hale, And

Jeet Patel Block 4

then she close her book and walks out of the house, and suddenly mark this I could pray again!(Miller 44). Just as soon as his wife begins to do something atypical of a Christian woman, Giles begins to fear that there must be something wrong about it. It is evident that the people of Salem have learned to fear everything that is not considered normal or Christian. They fear the forest because there were no Christians occupying the land, referring to it as the citadel of his[the devils] last stand(5). Their fear stems from the basic principles of their faith, and without such a conformist attitude on the latter, the fear would have quickly dwindled or not even have appeared. To put it simply, Arthur Miller and the Salem Witch Trials convey the idea that faith can instill fear in people; specifically, fear of people different from themselves. As Miller illustrates the effects of faith and its ability to instigate fear amongst a group of people, he simultaneously conveys the opposite as well. As the devout people of Salem face this new epidemic of witches who have lived right under their noses, their fear brought them back to the most fundamental part of being Puritan: faith in Christianity. In the time of turmoil in the town, many of the people turn to God, including those accused of witchcraft. Many of the townspeople fear for their life as the girls of the town scream and faint in front of many of the accused witches, stating that the accused is sending their spirit out to haunt them. Although she is merely putting on an act, Abigail pleads to a Heavenly Father to take away this shadow(109) in an attempt to convict Mary Warren of bewitching her, and quell all rumors that she is lying. Even under pretense, the Puritans instinctively turn to God in fearful times to save them from harm. When closely investigated though, the fear not only causes a stronger belief in faith but belief in things that prior to the fear, they would deny as well. Tituba uses this tactic to stop the whippings she had been receiving for bewitching the children. In order to save herself, she announces her love of God but she also announces her coerced compact with the devil and the

Jeet Patel Block 4

rumor that there are more witches in Salem. Previously, she would have considered any thought of witchcraft as folly but her fear of death leads her to take desperate actions, and she is not the only one. Many of the accused witches admit to working for Lucifer in order to be exonerated. This fear of persecution or death push the people of Salem closer and closer to God. The most primitive relationship of faith and fear in The Crucible is that when one appears, the other emotion is not too far behind. When the strong uniform faith in Salem brings upon the hunt for those who wish to harm it, fear of those deemed witches surfaces. When the fear of being accused or being attacked via witchcraft grows within the townspeople, there is a renewal of faith that is even stronger than before. These phenomena are not just found in a few people, but found across the town and into other areas such as Andover. Abigail is the spark that sets off the endless cycle of faith and fear in Salem. Her dancing and drinking blood leads to fear in Salem, and people immediately turn to faith to console themselves. Even the unusual rituals and dancing had scared the participants like Betty. She becomes conscious after Abigail tells her that she confessed to Parris about what happened, and she is frightened, You drank blood, Abby! You didnt tell him that! you did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctors wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!(19). The enforced faith caused an increased fear and paranoia as certain signs, like not being able to pray, causes many to jump to conclusions. The hysteria caused by religion and the faith caused by the fear are indicators that neither can exist without the other to instigate its surfacing. The Crucible uses these events to signify that faith is to fear like a chicken is to an egg; it is nearly impossible to say which actually came first, but they are both essential to one another. In Salem, the relationship had slowly been growing behind the scenes until it is unleashed during the dancing and the first accusations of witchcraft. Miller uses the Salem Witch

Jeet Patel Block 4

Trials as a base for his story on how uniformity in beliefs can cause a group of people to ostracize or fear all others within the story and uses the complexity of fear and religion as the framework of the entire play.

You might also like