The Crucible By Arthur Miller - 1358 Words

A. The movie, The Crucible, was produced in 1996 and portrayed the dramatized play written by Arthur Miller in 1953. The movie story deals with the Salem, Massachusetts hysteria in 1692 with an irrational fear of the devil. Witch hunts and false accusations resulted. Trials took place and resulted in the hanging and associated death of more than 20 people and the false imprisonment of many others. B. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. â€Å"From June through September of 1692, nineteen men and women, all having been convicted of witchcraft, were carted to Gallows Hill, a barren slope near Salem Village, for hanging. Another man of over eighty years was pressed to death under†¦show more content†¦Because of the similarities and even the differences, both the movie and the actual trial hysteria and paranoia can be seen in following periods of time, even today’s. If history can repeat itself, hopefully today’s society can recognize the injustice that happened to innocent people in 1692 and not repeat anything like it as we go forward. II. Similarities in The Crucible and the Salem witch trials A. In like manner, there is lack of understanding about disease: Similarly, in both the movie and the trials, testimony was given to try and prove that people were bewitched or controlled by the devil rather than by scientific explanation. â€Å"In January of 1692, the daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem Village became ill. When they failed to improve, the village doctor, William Griggs, was called in. His diagnosis†¦bewitchment†( Salem Witch Museum. ). â€Å"The cause of her symptoms may have been some combination of stress, asthma, guilt, boredom, child abuse, epilepsy, and delusional psychosis.†( Linder, Douglas. An Account of the Salem Witchcraft Investigations, Trials, and Aftermath. ). In similar ways the trials and the movie exhibited the strange behavior by young Betty Parris â€Å"There is also a theory that a fungus called ergot caused the hysteria. It grows on rye and caused bizarre and erratic behavior. Convulsive ergotism causes