Book Review: The Crucible

Arthur Miller

The author of The Crucible, Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright. He was born in 1915. Famous for All My Sons, A View from the Bridge and most notably one of the best screenplays of the 20th century, Death of a Salesman. Miller is renowned for including his subtle comments on society. 

The roaring twenties brought prosperity to the Miller household, a respected family living in New York City. However, this didn’t last, as the Wall Street Crash of 1929 bankrupted Miller’s father’s small business. Losing everything, the family was forced to move, uprooting Arthur Miller’s view of the world. The depression darkened his perfect world and he began to form a critical standpoint of society. He was now exposed to poverty and the pains of life. His school of choice was the University of Michigan but first, he had to work in a warehouse to pay for the fees, which delayed his formal education. Miller unleashed his passion for story writing at university and began writing plays. Interestingly, most of his work expressed a political view.

It didn’t take long for Miller to receive a reward, and he did so with his play, All My Sons, for which he acquired a Tony. He went on to write one of the greatest plays of the period, Death of a Salesman. He explores the reality of society’s values and their effects on the common man. This play was heavily influenced by Miller’s youth during the Great Depression and his family’s struggle. Death of a Salesman was presented and directed by Kazan a year after Miller wrote it. It won him another Tony for best play and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. 

Kazan, the director of Death of a Salesman, came forward to the HUAC and contributed eight names who allegedly had ties with the communist party. This deeply hurt Miller and a feud raged between the two. This sparked Miller’s idea for The Crucible. Subtly and openly, Miller criticises the period of the Red Scare called McCarthyism and draws parallels between Salem and the present day. Not long after the publication of The Crucible, the HUAC started to investigate Miller’s behaviour. They brought him to court and charged him with contempt of Congress as he refused to give names of anyone in “unlawful” parties. A fine was to be paid and a prison sentence endured. They took away Miller's US passport and he was blacklisted from Hollywood. However, this was overturned after the sentence ruling in Miller’s favour. 

Miller’s career carried on and was quite a rollercoaster. However, his life came to an inevitable end on the 10th of February 2005, aged 89, on the 65th anniversary of the Broadway debut of Death of a Salesman. Miller led a great life with love and passion for his work, something that inspired many of the past, many of the present, and most certainly many of the future.

Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch trials were a period between February of 1692 and May of 1693 in which several accusations of witchcraft were examined. This eerie air of suspicion hung over colonial Massachusetts as multiple women and men alike were sent to hang. It spread to nearby villages and so began the deadliest witch-hunt in North America. The isolation and religious extremity of a place like Salem could have initiated this burst of hysteria. Theocracy of New England was forever tainted by these events and perhaps even broke it. 

The witch-hunts were most prevalent in Europe where tens of thousands of lives were stolen during the 17th century. Yet, this terror gradually disappearing in Europe was growing in its colonies over the Atlantic. It all began with a group of girls expressing pains which no doctor could explain. This behaviour has yet to be explained, perhaps it was a practical joke or an undiscovered disease. Whatever it was, the young girls decided to blame it on someone. They named low-standing women of the town, accusing them of dealings with the devil. These women, as told by the girls, were workers of the devil and forced evil upon the girls. This was an unusual hearing as the sole witnesses were the victim and women in the matter, it was a hearsay matter. 

It all escalated very quickly and many more women were accused. The judges saw fit that anyone who confessed to witchcraft would receive help whilst those who would not were to be hanged. They were beyond help, too entrapped with the devil. In the end, more than 200 were accused and trailed, nineteen of them were hanged. It is speculated that these accusations were heavily political as some men were to profit from the trials. Past feuds could be vanquished and leverage created by a simple threat of witchcraft.  

The Crucible

 

The Crucible is a play that focuses on the events during the Salem Witch Trials. It is a mix of historical events and fiction, some facts were altered in the play. For theatrical purposes, Abigail Williams – the main accuser – age was raised to seventeen rather than eleven or twelve. This was done to add an affair between John Proctor and Abigail, to add nuance to the drama. He also decided to combine multiple judges into only two: Hathorne and Danforth. Miller tries to piece together information from records of the time and his visit to Salem. He comments that “no character in the play who did not take a similar role in Salem”, and it is understood that Miller intends to stay true to history but also interpret it in his own way. 

Through this story, Miller explores the parallels between the witch-hunt and McCarthyism. The Crucible has a creepy and suspenseful aura that entices the readers. The build-up of escalation draws the readers in as we become attached to the character. Pray for the wives whose lives are in threat, root for the husbands and are annoyed with the accusatory girls. Hope is given and snatched in each act. It’ll leave you thinking of the world as a solemn and distrustful place. The title The Crucible could mean several tests or a container in which substances endure extremely high temperatures. This could symbolise the characters who refuse to disregard their pride or morals and falsely confess to witchcraft. 

Overall the tale of these trials are forever a staple – a reminder – in American history. The victims and their families are still getting compensated and will not let down this horrifying act of violence. This period is something we should learn from and not repeat. The Crucible shows how society shouldn’t judge people in a legal court on the sole basis of a thought crime or insufficient evidence.