Have you ever been so into a book, so captivated, that when you are close to finishing, you are anticipating the most glorious, most riveting conclusion ever! Well, let me tell you, Arthur Miller did just that when writing The Crucible, but the ending may not be the one we hoped for. The play was famous for discussing many important topics like the extent of power for any individual and conformity to social norms. During that time period, America was also in a turmoil, the red scare and McCarthyism were prominent, and many African Americans were speaking out against discrimination as the civil rights movement progressed. The Red Scare can be described as a period of time where widespread fear and hysteria among Americans were caused by the idea that communism might spread. McCarthyism was a result of the increasing hysteria in America. Joseph McCarthy, a politician used this fear to elevate his status by accusing people of being communist based on their beliefs. As a result of these accusations, many that were accused were out of jobs and shunned from society (hint hint, does this remind you of something, maybe a certain play). The Crucible similarly discusses the power of fear and the ability it has to make people conform to society. Going back to the play and its ending, the most frustrating part about the whole ordeal, is not Abigail, or the uselessness of Mary Warren(you had one job Mary, one job), but the strangely didactic, and completely infuriating ending.
(spoiler alert ahead, warning! ) The events leading up to the endings consists of Abigail accusing people and stating she “saw Sarah Good with the devil” and many others ( 904-905 Miller). This leads to the creation of the court, whose main purpose is to try and cleanse the community of any witches with the help of Abigail and her friends. Towards the end, Proctor is called in for questioning, he tells the truth about Abigail and his affair, and her confession that she was lying about seeing the devil. What is expected is that the court would holds Proctor to his word, and realize the absurdity of their wrong actions, however that is very much not what happens. Proctor ends up dying and this begs the question, what was the purpose behind his death, and why couldn't Miller give us the ending we wanted! The Crucible was based on a real life event, which made the ending even more lamentable. In many ways, Miller’s ending of The Crucible reflects the position of the accused back in the 1960s. More so, the death of John Proctor signifies the importance of the truth, and the power of social conformity and peer pressure. Even after many decades our society still faces the issue of conformity. It is human nature to follow the population, the herd if you will, because we use these norms to guide and direct our decisions in life. On the other hand, it is our nature to be independent, and want our own voices to be heard within the crowd. There are two sides to the coin, should we conform and be accepted into a society where maybe the wrong answer is considered right, or should we speak out and address the wrong, knowing it will only outcast us from the community. This complex relation of individualism versus conformity are the building blocks to decisions humans make. These decisions were what all the characters in The Crucible had to face at one point when decided to be the accused or the accuser. John Proctor's death signifies the winning decision in the end, Proctor chose to speak out and not conform to society. Do you think it was wise of Proctor to have a martyr's death, or should he have lived and helped his family, who he left behind?
I thought this was a very thoughtful wrap-up of the play and effectively summarized the motifs present throughout. To answer your question, I do think it was wise of Proctor to speak out against the society, even if it meant death. He was able to send a subliminal message to the town of standing up for yourself and the many others affected. And, like Elizabeth said, he finally found the goodness in his heart. I liked how you explained the notion of individualism versus conformity and related it to the real world. Which side do you think people most often take when faced with this situation? How often do you think peer pressure has affected the outcomes of certain situations in our society?
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