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Aparna Parvathi Mr. Kling American Literature 23 September 2012 The Hunger for Power Heights, spiders, tight spaces, crowds, and confrontations; these are among many of the common fears. Fear is what we make it out to be; we can manipulate our fear and gather power or we can let the power of fear run our conscience. Juxtaposed, fear and power overwhelm each other, often letting power to set it roots of evil and thus making it hard to eradicate. Arthur Millers Crucible exposes the many ways fear alone can manifest itself as power and bring about the destruction of a community already filled with tension. In the Crucible, fear and power are indefinitely related in that the play illustrates how fear can transform itself to power by means of guilt, the resulting greed, and the desperate need to preserve the attained power. Often an individual ridden in guilt will bathe themselves in the sinful waters of power. This is presented by the actions of Abigail, one of the main characters in the Crucible. Prior to her taking advantage of her power, Abigail participated in the aberrant acts of conjuring spirits and dancing in the woods with other girls. In a Puritan society this is frowned upon, therefore leading Abigail to be remorseful of her actions and begins her transgression into the desire for power. After seeming like her actions will begin to work against her, Abigail begins to look for her way out, not afraid to take others down on her winding road. Speaking to Marry Warren, Mercy Lewis and others in Bettys room, Abigail admonishes And mark this. Let either of

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you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you (Miller 1244). Abigails guilt leads her to fear the consequences that might follow her actions and therefore this allows her to manipulate this fear and transfer it into power. She knows that if she were to allow the truth to be told, it could result in her ruin and she makes the girls aware that she has the power to make sure her ruin means their ruin as well. The direct outcomes of Abigails actions not only affect her but also the townspeople. Not only does her fear result in her bringing about her own ruin, but she also manages to ruin the lives of innocent townspeople who may have had a petty disagreement with her. She also targets many people deemed useless in society like Goody Osbourn. Mrs. Putnam then jumps on this opportunity to blame Good Osbourn for the death of her babies and this one comments lend credibility to the girls accusations. From her actions it made it seem plausible for other people to claim anyone whom they had a grudge against to be a witch. Additionally, having been confronted by Proctor and Elizabeth after her return from the court proceedings, Mary Warren claims to Proctor, Ill not be ordered to bed no more, Mr. Proctor! I am eighteen and a woman, however single! (Miller 1273). This exclamation further exposes the state of disarray that Abigail has left the other girls as well as the townspeople in. Moreover, this quote also explains that the fear felt by Abigail has helped to transfer into the girls and where they had no power before, it let the girls obtain considerable amount of influence on the lives of the people. Inadvertently, Abigail also begins the devil made me do it hysteria which allowed anyone in the community to blame ones own neighbors and family. In what was once a peaceful community, Abigail sparked a fire that caused an unbelievable social uproar. Abigail fears her guilt and it becomes the origin of what

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lends to her taking control of the situation and not only blaming others but also allowing destruction of innocent townspeople. The first lie can be considered a mere way of covering the truth for the greater good, the second lie is a form of escapism, but the third lie then constitutes to greed. At this point in the play, other characters have begun to come to the realization that anyone can have the excess amount of power possessed by a few measly common girls. The fervor for power which grew with a mistake made by a few girls has now diffused throughout the town. Having attained the relative maximum for power, Abigail begins to feel greedy and takes authority of the said power. Coming upon Act II, it is made evident by Mary warren to Elizabeth that someone has accused her of witchery. I saved her life today! exclaims Marry Warren to Proctor (Miller 1273). The chronologies of the next few dialogues bring us to light on whether it was Abigail who had accused Elizabeth. With Abigails sudden explosion of power she learns that to be with the one whom you love, you can simply call his wife a witch and get rid of her. This is further proved by when Herrick arrives to arrest Elizabeth for attempting to murder Abigail. Having received a poppet from Marry Warren, Elizabeth simply finds it odd to be receiving such a gift but unbeknownst to all there was pin stuck on the poppet which Abigail will use as evidence for Elizabeths spirit attacking her. This unexpected turn of events leads Marry Warren to cry Shell kill me for sayin that! Abbyll charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctor! to Proctor (Miller 1286). This clarifies that Abigail has finally begun to acquire greed and demand more of her power even to the extent of wanting to be with a man who will not love her. Furthermore, the magnitude of Abigails power also causes fear in Mary Warren when she is told to speak the truth to free Elizabeth. The incessant continuum with which the greed for power expands has now spread from Abigail to others who have seen the advantages the witch hunt can yield for

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them. One prime example of this is Putnam. He is accused by Giles Corey of reaching out for land! (Miller 1291). The extent to which the hysteria has spread can be explained by this quote, for it shows that Putnams greed for power and land has also allowed him to take a stance on the witch trials in order to benefit himself. The town has finally begun to be tainted beyond repair from the actions of a group of girls in a way that not only fear and guilt brings self-destruction and harm to others but also greed. Like a murderer on the run and close to being captured, an individual who is on the brink of losing everything they have worked for attempts every possible way to save themselves. To preserve the attained power, Abigail becomes so desperately frantic that she is even willing to threaten Danforth when Mary Warren exposes her accusations and actions as a pretense. Danforth becomes alarmed by this fact and warns that those who lie will hang and be damned by God. When questioned by Danforth, Abigail shouts, Let you beware, Mr. Danforth. Think you to be so mighty that the power of hell may not turn your wits? Beware of it (Miller 1307). This situation further illuminates how much power Abigail has achieved that she now threatens a person in a position of power and not one who is in a lowly position in the society. Drifting from her dialogue, Abigail begins to claim cold wind is blowing about her and following Abigails actions the other girls repeat verbatim Mary Warrens pleas for help. From this point on, the deterioration of Abigails power is inaugurated. Like the blood-thirsty murderer, Abigail is desperate to quench her thirst and climb out of the vacuous hole she has dug herself into. The gaping wound Abigail has opened in her society is one that is hard to scab over, for not even Danforth is able to accept the truth of false witch trials. The society, having been driven by the eagerness to extinguish seeds of error, is affected to such an extent that any withdrawal of the court can bring about another hysteria in which the people rebel against the court and the church.

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This sudden and undeclared denouncement of the witch trials leaves Abigail to her last defenses. Upon being exposed as a harlot by Proctor to Danforth when he claims ... I have known her sir, Abigail begins to draw up her fortifications (Miller 1309). Even this last attempt in which Proctor destruct himself is not able to contain the desire for power Abigail has. Elizabeths false testimony on adultery also proves coincidental to Abigail attempting one final time to test the scope of her power. She pretends to see Mary Warren in the form of a yellow bird about to attack her; these actions inevitably turn a pure Mary Warren back to the shades of sin. Though this seems to help Abigail to contain her power, it is later proven that her proximity to destruction binds her to expel herself out of town and escape the wrath of her wrongs. Abigails escape leads Danforth, Hale and Parris to request confessions from anyone of the accused. The consequences of Abigails actions have left the town unable to reverse the domino-like effect it has pressed on the accused. Though John Proctor does confess, he reveals that he is better than those who hide in the umbrage of irredeemable acts of sin and allows himself a purified death. Thus, the remnants of power left by Abigail helps to further degrade the Puritan society and cause hysteria amongst the people; not to expand the witch hunts , but now to finally rid the community of a gruesome past they are slowly trying to rid themselves of. Guilt, greed and the preservation of power are all traits which Abigail experiences in the Crucible. Though fear and power first manifests in Abigail, they then spread like an epidemic among her fellow townspeople. Though disheartening, the witch trials of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts have transformed the idea of guilty until proven innocent into innocent until proven guilty. The milestones skipped to attain that revelation were cracked and dirt sodden, but it would be an understatement to say that we have not yet learned the consequences of ones fear and its proportionality in determining power. Arthur Miller has therefore left us all with the

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daunting past in which fear gained from power constituted for the fear of your neighbors and friends.

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Work Cited

Miller, Arthur. "Unit 6: Prosperity and Protest (1946- Present)." Crucible. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. 1234-334. Print