The Crucible - Human Nature

Throughout The Crucible, all of the characters exhibit human characteristics, causing the story to be personal and emotionally reachable. The human nature aspect that each of the characters exhibit gives them depth and is the difference between boring, forgettable characters and characters that stick with the reader and have an emotional impact on the reader. The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the early 1690s in a time that we know we refer to as the Salem Witch Trials (Miller 3). The first thing that I thought of when pairing the phrase 'human nature' with The Crucible is fear. The fear that the people of Salem had for things not in the norm and the fear of difference brought forth the notorious Witch Trials (Miller). A group of young girls danced in the woods. That does not sound bad, evil, or an act that should be shunned; at least in our times. In Puritan Salem, people of any age were not allowed to dance in the woods, naked or not (Miller 10). As everyone knew and understood that rule, it was thought that the Devil possessed a person do break the law, as a good Puritan would never even dream of knowingly breaking any law. The girls, led by Abigail Williams, led everyone to believe that they were possessed by the Devil and bewitched to dance naked in the woods (Miller 10). But of course, they did not sign a contract with the Devil, they were cursed by a witch. At first the villagers believed that there was "No element of witchcraft her" (Miller 14). But as the fear spread, the belief of witches among the villagers spread like wild fire. Fear is a very important part to human nature. Fear is a motivator. Fear can motivate people to do things that they would normally never dream of doing. Most of the time it is not for the best though, as in the case of The Crucible when more than twelve innocent people died because of the fear of differences that ran high because of young girls blaming others to cover up for themselves (Miller 129).

Pride is another aspect of human nature represented in The Crucible. Many of the characters exhibit their need to have a good reputation and to be thought of in a good way. Abigail Williams does not want her "good name soiled" with accusations of adultery (Miller 12). Even though the accusations are true, Abigail does not want her name to be associated with negative opinions. Because of that pride, Abigail frames Elizabeth Proctor as a witch to get back at her. Also Abigail's pride leads her to call witch to cover up for her naked dancing in the woods. As there are no witches (I believe they do not exist, unless they attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry), Abigail was lying to cover herself up and protect her pride. John Proctor also tries to protect his "good name" after he commits adultery against his wife, Elizabeth, with Abigail Williams (Miller 143). He overcomes his pride, as he admits to his adultery to save innocent lives from being tried and hung as witches (Miller). His moral sense of righteousness conquers his pride until the end of the fourth act when he can not bring himself to sign a document that says he confesses to being in league with the Devil (Miller 143). His sense of pride triumphed in the end, which led to John Proctor's death.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts. New York, NY: Penguin, 2003. Print.