Examples Of Greed In The Crucible

In literature and in life, the opportunity of personal and corporate gain allows for easy manipulation of vulnerable circumstances, as seen primarily by the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Based upon the accusations of multiple vindictive Salem residents, the lack of empirical evidence, the lack of division in the church and state, and the lack of proper leadership in Salem allowed for certain members of society to claim revenge, manipulate citizens, and gain unprecedented religious influence. The continuation of these incentives caused the Trials to rapidly turn into hysteria, with dozens killed, and hundreds more convicted of faulty acts. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller and “‘Homo Economicus’ and the Salem Witch Trials” by Franklin G. Mixon, Jr., the nature of Salem residents is exposed, explaining how greed and selfishness led to the conviction of multiple men and women in the fall of 1692. Although religion and the Puritan ideology played a major role in these shocking figures, without the motivation of personal and corporate profit, the Salem Witch Trials would not have had the same devastating effects.

This is later confirmed when she threatens to “come to [them] in the black of some terrible night and … bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder” (Pg.175) Mary Warren and Betty Parris if they dare to tell the truth. This shows her determination at killing Elizabeth Proctor and securing her own reputation. Unlike many naive villains in other literatures, Abigail sets out a meticulous scheme to frame Elizabeth. First, she witnesses Mary Warren leaving a needle in a doll. Then she “[sticks] two inches [of a needle] in the flesh of her belly”(pg. 203) to frame Elizabeth of performing witchcraft. So mendacious is Abigail that she is willing to injure herself to accomplish her plan. Under her beautiful appearance also lays a manipulative heart. She is capable of manipulating not only the girls into doing things her way, but also the members of the court to her advantage. When questioned by Danforth whether the spirits she has seen are illusion, Abigail steps it up a notch by making the members of the court feel sorry for her and madly refutes, “I have been near to murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people—and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a—” (Pg.210) This, following by Elizabeth's failure to tell the truth and the girl’s verisimilar acting toward the “yellow bird”, further demonstrates her manipulative power which brings the court in her favor. Altogether, many

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a historical play set in 1962 in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts. As you may know, you've all placed your trust in the words and actions of someone close to you. And what do they do? They betray you! It's rarely justified, and can happen to the best of us. Based on authentic records of witchcraft trials in the seventeenth-century this play explains how a small group of girls manage to create a massive panic in their town by spreading accusations of witchcraft. These rumors in turn are the causes that many citizens are hung for. This essay will show how the lies and betrayal of a few individuals eventually leads to the downfall of Salem and its society.

Abigail's deception toward the people is driven by her lust for power. Abigail begins to accuse others of being witches, so she can build up her power and reliability. She carefully selects defenseless targets at first to accuse, only those that would be believable when in court. Each of the innocent people that Abigail condemns to hang gives her more credibility, gaining her more power over the court and the people. Abigail continues to grow closer to the big picture every time she gains power. Abigail is viewed as a threat; since her lust for power made her into a ruthless person. Abigail in the manner of a leader convinces the other girls to follow her; those who are frightened by her are the ones who join her. She needs more people on her

Enviousness is sometimes described as psychic tumor, and can be destructive at times, how that temptation of jealousy can overwhelm people and ruin people around. This situation is successfully introduced in the play The Crucible, how many characters are jealous of people around them, and such action of envying not only destroyed people who practiced envy but also people around. In the play The Crucible, Miller’s uses of compare and contrast between Abigail William and Mr. Putnam brings out their similar motive for their desire for power, which is envy. As a result of their envying of others, many innocent people died, thus demonstrates the dangers of envy.

“The arrogant are wise in their own eyes, but the wise will recognize their lies” (Anonymous). This quote accurately describes how the events in the Salem Witch Trials unfolded. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, places the reader into the city of Salem, Massachusetts. Arthur Miller tells a fictional story based on real events of how people who were wise in their own eyes used others to better themselves in a community based on honesty. Three characters from the story stand apart in their arrogance. Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Reverend Parris were conceited and cared only about their personal gains. These characters used their power to blame, but not to be blamed or accused of alleged witchcraft which resulted in the deaths of several townspeople. Arthur Miller used these characters to illustrate how simple lies and rumors can spread and become an unstoppable force. With these simple but powerful accusations, well respected citizens soon became the targets of these characters manipulation.

There are many conflicts that arise due to decisions characters make. The characters in The Crucible by Arthur Miller all have one thing in common corrupting the entire town and is all at fault for most of the actions decisions, and conflict displayed in the book. This corruption can be described in one word: Greed. Driving the town to go after one another greed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is the true antagonist of the book, for it provokes most of the conflict in the book. This can all be proven with definitions and impacts of greed tot all of the characters, examples and how it relates back to the plot of the book.

Abigail Williams is one of the characters who uses reasoning to get people put in jail or put to death. The court uses inaccurate reasoning to kill people and to get people sent to jail. The court also wants to see the reactions of the people. They make a big deal of killing witches to make the people of the town feel more safe and to help the people trust the court. In the end, it is just the opposite effect.

The Crucible’s theme is based on greed; several characters show this by taking actions to their selfish desire. Foremost Abigail slept with John Proctor, a married man. She commits witchcraft, a crime in Salem, to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife. Betty Parris greatly proclaims “You drank charm to kill John Proctors wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor.”(Miller 19) Betty tenses what Abigail has done proving Abigail is willing to go far for John Proctor. She is willing to do whatever it takes to be with John including drinking a charm to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Following Abigail’s incident, was John Proctor’s affair. He let his desires get the best of him by having an affair. Abigail tells John “I look for John Proctor

“You know that Cain were an upright man, and yet he did killed Abel.”(Arthur Miller pg. 91)This means that throughout history that people can be motivated to do both amazing and horrible actions. In the same way ambition can be used to corrupt the most steady and kind. For example the quote “ You know that Cain was a good man, yet he killed Abel.” Cain was corrupted by his ambition to be perfect in God’s eyes, but Cain instead of letting go of his jealousy, anger, and pursuing a new ambition instead of killing Abel. There are perfect examples of great people’s integrity proving how values can be broken by ambition. This is comparable to the Crucible made by Miller; Hale, Danforth, and Parris are three people have been corrupted by their ambition.

Power can be as easily obtained as it can be abused by any given person. Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible displays the use of power dynamics in many of its characters. The exert of power presented by the proposed children of God, Abigail Williams and Mary Warren, rose to the extent of mass murder through the witch trials.

A person’s actions and behaviors sometimes have concealed or underlying reasons. These ulterior motives have the ability to affect an entire community or can be to the benefit of an individual. Sometimes the ambitions are not transparent and are hard to identify, just as in the Salem witch trials of 1962. In the play The Crucible, author Arthur Miller explores the negative consequences ulterior motives have on a single person and society as a whole. Miller suggests ulterior motives can destroy relationships and lead to unnecessary suffering, as shown through Abigail’s false accusations and destruction to the Proctor’s relationship, and Reverend Parris’ concern for his reputation.

Revenge is a common theme in our society: the desire comes from a necessity to repair what has been damaged by others. As long as revenge is imaginary and enough, it is normal, and in some cases, it should serve to settle down. Is when a person begins to meditate on vengeance or to make it real that it becomes less healthy. And if the thought goes through the facts, the implications can be catastrophic. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the Salem witch trials provide the proper chance for some weak characters to take revenge on their enemies, people who could not fight in everyday life. The citizens of Salem have used the judicial system as a way of revenge for the people who had interests or beliefs that were contradictory to their own. In this play, vengeance dictates the characters' actions and amplifies it, up to ruinous consequences.

-

In The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, the small Puritan village of Salem turns into a town revolving around accusations and rumors of witchcraft. The defensive actions of the characters involved in the dramatics show their greed to protect themselves at all costs against the allegations of witchcraft, which tear the town apart. The characters in the play prove Cormac McCarthy’s assertion that “what is constant in history is greed and foolishness and a love of blood and this is a thing that even God — who knows all that can be known — seems powerless to change” (McCarthy 239). The inevitability of greed of mankind will prevail through the motivations to maintain reputation, sustain self-preservation, and get revenge.