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Amber Tatenco

Mr. Choi

English 11

28 October 2017

Minds of the Impulsive, Bodies of the Devious

Salem, 1692, the horrific Witch Trials had taken over the minds of the impulsive, and

bodies of the devious. The infamous Salem witch trials began after a group of young girls in

Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local

women, most of whom they despised, of witchcraft. By September 1692, the hysteria had begun

to subside and public opinion turned against the trials. Through the accusations placed by these

women did the trials of Salem result in the execution of twenty people; fourteen of them women,

and all but one by hanging. Throughout Arthur Millers, The Crucible, many of the individuals

within the play unveil numerous acts of logical fallacies; using illogical arguments in such a way

were they can now be characterized.

Reverend Parris as a character and individual from the play, consistently utilizes verbal

irony and has a reputation of being in denial; No-no. There be no unnatural cause here. He

usually argues for anything that will favor him because throughout the play, he is given the

character of someone whose main priority is himself and his own reputation. It is shown how

Parris was very in denial about the fact of unnatural causes being brought up in relation to his

daughters current state of not being able to be awoken. Being that his aforementioned
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high-priority reputation would then be placed in jeopardy, he does not want the court to connect

his daughter being bewitched to him. A common reasoning to resort to is guilt by association,

which can be seen in Reverend Parris consistent false accusations. He and Danforth were both

presented with a petition that Proctor and Giles had put together showing that 91 people from

Salem had signed off in the favor of Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse. Parris, being blinded by

his ego and hasty manner, takes this petition as an attack upon the court (Miller 94). This leads

to all of the people who have signed the petition to be imprisoned and questioned because of the

fact that they signed it saying they knew these people and their good worth. Parris connected this

with them associating with witches that they now defend. He didnt want to be frowned upon and

the petition that Proctor had brought in can affect his reputation which is why hes so quick to

argue against it. With Parris being in denial, and with him not wanting to blacken his name, he

starts to attack Proctor; Such a christian that will not come but once a month!. Parris brought

up the fact that Proctor doesnt go to church on Sundays and instead he stayed home to plow.

He used this to divert their attention to an argument that didnt necessarily matter; his religious

practices. By him stating this it caused Danforths curiosity to expand and now hes questioning

him about his religious practices and this set off another misunderstanding being, because he

doesnt go to church that he may not be a man with god. This is a form of AD Hominem;

attacking Proctors character rather than focusing on the situation at hand. It will become very

evident to the more detective-eyed readers of the play that many of the characters within it

engage in many contrasting non-fitting beliefs and ideals.

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As the play advances, it starts to show how Parris is very self-contradicting; Excellency,

I would postpone the hangings for a time. In the beginning of the story he is all for hanging and

punishing all those that were said to have dealt with anything of witchcraft, towards the end of

the play Parris starts to say that they should postpone them. The reader should note that while

arguing for the postponement, he is shown to be doing it out of guilt. This is also an example of

how he is selfish and only cares for himself because he only argued for the postponement out of

the guilt he felt, after knowing that he was wrong for believing Abigail. He only does things that

will favor him in the end, in this case it is so the people will not rebel and he would be able to

have a chance to get the accused to confess, so he will not feel as guilty. Parris: All innocent

and Christian people are happy for the courts in Salem! (Miller 94). Parris has been one to

flip-flop throughout The Crucible. He assumes that everyone in Salem must agree to the trials

only because a selected few follow him and his sayings. Instead of reconsidering what he is

doing he continues because of this thought. Parris wants everyone to accept and agree with what

the courts actions and propositions. This is showing how controversial Parris can be because

towards the end of Act Four being that Parris now wants everyone to see that what they are

doing, and or have done, is completely wrong. Still, being that he doesn't want to ruin his

reputation, he is very hesitant to bring this to Danforth. He is contradicting his earlier claims that

everyone must follow him in believing the trials must continue and now hes considering that

they should postpone these hangings because of the guilt he so deeply feels. Parris: Was it

man or woman come with him? (Miller 46). Parris is accusing Tituba of seeing another person

with the devil when he came to visit her. He phrases the question in a certain way where hes

forcing Tituba to answer with the answer he wants to hear even if she didnt see anyone. The
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answer he wants to hear, not only him but he wants everyone to hear too, is that when the devil

came to her he was with a man and or woman and he wants her to give them names. Parris

continues to contradict himself by begging the held prisoners to confess to witchery or be hanged

by dawn. This is a form of contradiction because at first he wanted Tituba to confess to witchery

so that he wouldnt look bad because Abby had accused her but now he just wants them to

confess to witchery because he feels guilty for putting all of them in that position. Contradiction

can often sprout ignorance, and such ignorance can often be used as ammunition for argument.

Mrs. Putnam might not mean any harmshe just wants to find out why her babies have

been dying, and shes heartbroken and angry about it. Mother of eight children, seven of which

have died, is strongly convinced that each of her miscarriages were the doing of a witch, in this

case Rebecca Nurse. Based upon her predicament, she stated that shes laid seven babies

baptized in the earth , defending that the murder of her seven children have all been the wrong

doings of a witch because of the fact that there was no evidence to suggest otherwise. However,

this does present a logical fallacy: argument from ignorance. Though it comes not alone in

regards to logical fallacies, evident in the question being begged by Mrs. Putnam: It is a natural

work to lose seven children before they live a day? Goody Putnam is jumping to the conclusion

that her deceased children died of a curse, not of natural causes. The dependence on false logic is

the driving force behind the individuals cunning ways.

Martha Corey: wife of Giles Corey is being accused of witchcraft after Giles states that

she reads strange books and that her reading keeps him from praying. When she is arrested, her

husband regrets talking about the books and tells the court that he only said she read, not that she

was into witchcraft. But he is too late. She has already been judged a witch and refuses to
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confess; "I am innocent to a witch. I know not what a witch is." Upon being questioned by

Hawthorne, Martha Corey, suspected to witchcraft, argues her innocence by claiming she knew

not what a witch is and If I were I would know it. Marthas phrasing If I were is

signifying that she herself believes in the Devils magic. Hawthorne is questioning Marthas

conviction that she is not a witch, when she claims she has no idea what a witch is. The fallacy

being presented would be begging the question as well as circular reasoning. A common

reasoning to resort to is guilt by association, which can be seen when Giles Corey claims; Your

excellency, I only said she were readin books, sir, and they come and take her out of my house.

(Miller, Act III). Thus being presented must mean that witches read books, therefore, Goody

Corey is in league with the witches. McCarthyism, is a form of guilt by association; this allows

parrales to be singled out between The Crucible, McCarthyism, and as well with today's society.

Comparisons can be made connecting The Crucible and McCarthyism through the

abundance of illogical arguments. The McCarthy hearings were referred to as witch-hunts

because of their similarities to the Salem Witch Trials. Both struck fear into the minds of the the

impulsive, and bodies of the devious due to the fact that the attitude which ruled the courts, was

that people were guilty until they confessed. In Salem the only way to escape death was to

confess and repent; in the McCarthy hearings if you were accused, whether guilty or not, you

would always be viewed as a Communist. The Crucible is a very complex novel with very

dynamic characters and arguments that can be compared to today. It is extremely common for

individuals to fear the unknown, and what is displayed in The Crucible is the practice of

witchcraft, in todays time it can be seen in terrorism, racism, and Cold War United States,

through McCarthyism.
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