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Natalie Williams

Ms. Yates

AP Language and Composition

27 October 2017

Appearance versus Reality in “The Crucible”

How many people throughout history have been executed due to accusations of them

being evil witches that are teamed up with the devil, in order to spread evilness across society? In

the allegorical play​ The Crucible​ written by Arthur Miller, Miller implicitly tells the story of

Communism and the Cold War in the 1950s while explicitly explaining the accusations that

occurred throughout the Salem Witch Trials in the 1690s. Throughout his story he explores the

universal theme of “Appearance vs. Reality” in different cultures. The reality of the accusations

of the witches, the puritan people of the Salem society, and the past perspectives of witchcraft

are not the same as the appearance based on other people’s judgements and their different

lifestyles. Within the historical context of the Salem Witch Trials, Miller is able to apply false

outside-perspective judgements and inside-perspective actualities of problems in his play ​The

Crucible​.

Why were almost all of the accused people in Salem never doubted to be witches? The

accusations of witches were commonly justified by the display of abnormal behavior that was

considered to be “witchly” and “evil” based on the societal standards. This is displayed in Act II

of the play when Cheever finds a needle in Elizabeth Proctor’s doll. Based on the usual cultural

norms of Salem, the appearance of the needle in the rag doll was considered to be an attempt to

perform voodoo in order to murder somebody, but in reality the needle was accidentally left in
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the rag doll while Mary Warren was sewing. Cheever did not know the reality of the needle in

the rag doll, he just immediately assumed that Goody Proctor was a witch based on the

appearance. These accusations nearly got Elizabeth Proctor hanged (Miller 1306). The

reputations of the people in this society, such as Cheever, that were making these accusations

also contributed to the ability for these witch allegations to be very believable.

The characters that were making these accusations in ​The Crucible​ displayed themselves

as being perfectly holy individuals that could have never sinned in the past, a person that was

defined to be perfect based on the norms of the society and culture, but in reality they were

committing the worst sins listed in the Bible. For example in Act I, Thomas Putnam and his wife

essentially started the witch accusations when she was describing how her babies kept dying.

They accused Rebecca Nurse of killing their babies, after the Putnams were continuously blessed

with children (Miller 1266). Although Thomas Putnam is known to have been the most loyal

follower to the puritan laws, it is revealed in Act III by Giles Corey that he has been stealing land

from poorer farmers the entire time (Miller 1315). These examples display how the appearances

and reputations of even the most holy people in Salem are completely different from the truth.

Everyone perceived the Putnams as being perfect because of the societal ideology. People

similar to Thomas Putnam appeared to be free of all sins, which allowed them by society to be

able to reveal and accuse other people of sins. Even though these people lacked integrity and

sinned behind closed doors, how were they able to manage to convince almost everyone in the

town to believe in mythical creatures, like witches?

Today in the 21st century, the belief in witchcraft and the hangings that occurred in

Salem are considered insane, if not idiotic, based on the norms of present-day culture. Compared
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to the past the belief in witches and the evilness that they possessed was almost unanimously

taken seriously across the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The societal belief of witches in Salem

contributed to the witch accusations being taken too far. Today people often look back on the

Salem Witch Trials and accuse the Puritans of being crazy and paranoid because of the

appearance and reputations of witches in a present perspective. Not many people take into

consideration the mindset and cultural standards of the Puritans in Salem in the 1690s, before

they try to make an accurate explanation of why almost 50 people were executed for being a

fictional being. In the 21st century, the appearance of the events that occurred throughout the

Salem Witch Trials are determined to be insane but in reality the Salem Witch Trials was

justified based on the cultural norms of the Puritans. In the strict Puritan society of Salem,

Elizabeth having a needle in her rag doll and John Proctor being suspected of lying in court were

signs of witchcraft. Their cultural norms that would be considered very strict today were realistic

in their perspective; therefore the witch accusations were able to escalate into a bigger situation

than it would have been today. The misconceptions between appearance and reality does not

only occur from perspectives in different time periods. Today, many worldwide problems are

caused because of judgements based on the appearance of events rather than the realities.

In Nigeria, a islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, has been kidnapping teenage girls and

forcing them into marriage (Epatko). Even though these teenage girls have been victims to

heinous crimes and deprived of all of their human rights by the Boko Haram terrorists, when

they return to their home villages, the people of the village do not trust them (Epatko). The

appearance of the girls returning home, from the neighboring villagers perspective, causes them

to be accused of secretly working for Boko Haram because of the threat the terrorist group has
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caused to their society and culture. In reality the girls are excited to have gained their freedom

from the militant terrorists. Instead of trying to advise the girls on how to recover from being

physically and psychologically traumatized, the villagers avoid them in order to ensure

themselves prevention from the next predicted Boko Haram attack. If the villagers knew the real

intentions of the girls and separated the thoughts that were implanted in their brains by their

society and culture, when the captured girls had returned home they would have treated them in

an entirely different way. They would have been more sympathetic towards the girls, and in

return the entire village would have benefited from the contributions that the girls could have

provided.

It is always better to know the reality of something rather than to judge something by its

appearance. If the reality of the people making the witch accusations, the people that were being

accused to be witches, the cultural norms of the Puritan people of Salem, the intentions of the

captured girls of Boko Haram were revealed, and the cultural beliefs of the accusers in every

scenario were set aside, everyone would have been more knowledgeable and the outcomes of

each situation would have been severely different. Not as many people would have been

executed, not as many people would have been considered to be perfectly holy and untouched by

the devil, the Salem Witch Trials would not have been considered idiotic, and the kidnapped

girls from Boko Haram would have been more welcomed if people would calm down, take time

to understand the realities of situations, and remove their cultural bias. It is best to not judge

someone by their appearance as a first resort to solve an issue because the appearance of

something does not provide as much accurate information than the reality would. Resolutions
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that have been made based on judged appearances caused the death of the innocent people in

Salem and the everlasting trauma of the kidnapped girls in Boko Haram.
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Works Cited

“Crucible, by Arthur Miller.” Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 1998.

Epatko, Larisa. “Surviving Boko Haram: Kidnapped Girls Tell Their Stories.” PBS, Public

Broadcasting Service, 19 Oct. 2016, .

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Rubric Categories Exceptiona, 10 Proficien, 8 Satisfactor, 6 Emergin, 4 Unsatisfactor, 2

Introduction 2.a. Appropriately introduce Appropriately Introduces the literary Introduces the Fails to
the literary context and a introduce the context and identifies literary context and appropriately
complex and logical literary context the rhetorical literary rhetorical/literary introduce the
structure that identifies and an elements in a clear and elements in an literary context
appropriate and advanced organizational concise way unengaging or and
rhetorical/literary structure that rambling structure rhetorical/literar
elements in a clear, identifies the that lacks y elements
concise, and original way rhetorical/literary cohesiveness
elements in a clear
and concise way

Analysis 2.b. Consistently provide Provide logical and Provide explanations Insufficiently Fails to explain
logical and clear clear explanations for appropriate and provides text evidence
explanations for for appropriate, relevant evidence; may explanations for OR explains
effective, highly relevant and resort to relevant evidence evidence that is
relevant, sufficient, and sufficient evidence over-emphasis of that results audience not relevant to
thorough evidence with with an summary elements but confusion or lack of the essay’s
a sophisticated and understanding of the with basic information thesis
nuanced understanding audience’s understanding of
of the audience’s knowledge audience’s knowledge
knowledge

Organization 2.c. Organize ideas so that Organize ideas Organize ideas with Organize ideas with Organize ideas
each new element uses with effective and appropriate transitions appropriate insufficient
effective and sophisticated sophisticated between paragraphs to transitions between transitions AND
transitions which transitions link major sections of paragraphs, but minimal
comprehensively build on between the text and create major sections of attempts at
the preceding ideas to paragraphs to link cohesion the text remain linking major
create a unified whole major sections of disjointed sections of the
the text and create text
cohesion

Language 2.d-e. Consistently use effective Use domain Use appropriate syntax Insufficiently use Insufficiently
and sophisticated specific vocabulary and word choice to appropriate syntax establish a
language, syntax and and appropriate establish a formal and word choice formal literary
domain specific syntax to establish literary tone which destabilizes a tone
vocabulary to establish and maintain a formal literary tone
and maintain a formal formal literary and
literary and objective tone objective tone

Conclusion 2.f. Summarize the main Summarize the Summarize the main Summarize the Provide a
points using original main points using points while main points while conclusion that
language and clear original language addressing relevant addressing is unsupported
organization while and clear implications or unsupported by the preceding
providing a organization while significance implications or essay
sophisticated extension addressing relevant significance
that addresses the implications or
relevant implications or significance
significance in a way
that relates to the
audience.
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44 pts, 88% ​Oct 29-> Graded: 44 pts, 88%

​Oct 25->Peer Reviewed: Proficien, 8

Introduction 2.a.
I​ ntroduce your concept that culture plays a large role in your theme.
Analysis 2.b.
​ dd a blit of analysis to your first body paragraph
A

Teacher Rubric Settings: t05060tffn jyates _

50 pts Points Possible: