To bring about its downfall Essay Example for Free

To bring about its downfall Essay The Crucible is set in Salem, Massachusetts, during the 17th century. Salem is a very religious village, with life being centred around the church. Everyone was expected to go to church, and to learn the Ten Commandments off by heart, and always to dress modestly. Sinning was not tolerated at all! Rules were very strict. Everyone feared the devil, this was one of the religious codes. This leads to the whole town becoming very superstitious, believing in witchcraft and servants of the devil. This view shows how narrow minded people can be, and it is this fear of the devil which sets the scene for the prejudice we see during the play. The story has two different meanings which help it to function on two different levels. It shows how a community can live in fear of God and will admit to anything when faced with a death threat. This shows how weak people can be and how people can use their own deceptive minds and power to get what they want. It shows one good man fighting back against a narrow minded judicial system that believes in demons and that sins are unacceptable. It shows good strong men have weaknesses too and that they can be exploited. That everyone is human and unless you stand by what you believe in, it can lead to the downfall of us all. The Crucible shows a good man die when he shows weakness! Abbey Williams is one of the main characters in The Crucible. She is an evil child who twists evidence and words to murder her way through the people she does not like. She must get what she wants at all costs. Abbey seems to have a sexual power which she exploits over John Proctor, but she seems to use it on others in the town to get what she wants. She has power over the girls in the village and threatens them for example; I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it. This exhibits what a nasty girl Abbey is, and the girls in the town are scared rigid of her and will do whatever she says. This demonstrates the kind of power she has over the girls. She uses the forcefulness of her personality on the girls of the town, this leads them to do whatever she says. John was in love with Abbey and she uses this against him, she exploits it over him to get him to do what she wants for example; She is blackening my name in the village. You sweated like a stallion whenever I came near. These quotes show how Abbey uses what power she has over John to get him to do what she wants. It shows that Abbey knows what power she has and when to use it. This sexual power is her main power and she uses it over everyone she can. Abbey Williams is a very cruel and arrogant person she insults the judges and is aggressive towards Danforth for example; Ill have no such looks! If I have to answer that I will leave and never come back again. This shows that she can say this to the judges and get away with it, and that Abbey even seems to have power over the judges and court officials. Abbey Williams pretends she was taken by the devil in order to get power over the people of Salem and to get what she wants, this shows how evilly twisted she is. On the other hand the Putnams have a totally different kind of power. They have the power of their material possessions. They are very wealthy, but they are greedy and they have a habit of claiming land that is not theirs for example; Your grandfather had a habit of calling land that never belonged to him. This leads the Putnams to be disliked in the town. The Putnams do have a lot of land most of it swindled from their neighbours and because the rest of the people in Salem arent as rich, lots of them are resentful towards the Putnams. All the Putnams sons have died; we learn this during the play When Mrs Putnam says; Reverend Parris, I have laid seven babies unbaptised in the earth. Believe me sir you never saw more hearty babies born. And yet they would wither in my arms the very night of their birth.