Lowe 3
Tiarra Lowe
Mr. Jahnke
English 1B
12 November 2012
The Crucible
The Perfect Imperfect “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest”, Elie Wiesel. The tragedy of The Crucible was led by witchcraft. In comparison of witchcraft to McCarthyism, the accused has no fair justice to prove himself innocent. Joe McCarthy accused politicians of being communist. Those people were treated guilty with harsh consequences that were determined by the court. In parallel to that, people accused of witchcraft had no voice to speak the truth. Once someone was accused of witchcraft, he was automatically were assumed of being a witch which lead to crude consequences such as being hung. John Protor and Rebecca Nurse are similar yet different which explains the theme of The Crucible. Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor are compared throughout the play which impacts the ending of The Crucible. Both characters are highly respected by many people of the community. The town of Salem, Massachusetts looks up to both characters which leads to them having high confidence. Others compliment them frequently. “I never thought you had so much iron in you” (Miller p.1050).They both were victims accused of witchcraft and spoke with honesty but their responses were different. John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse are God-fearing people which affects the plot a great amount because their truthfulness causes consequences and dispute between others that could have been prevented. In The Crucible, honesty is thoughtless and the truthful are punished. “Them that will not confess will hang” (Miller p.1109).This thought alarms everyone in Salem, accept one strong and honest woman. Knowing the consequences, Rebecca Nurse stands by what she believes until her time
Lowe 3 of death. She remained strong and refused to fall to the lower level of lies and betrayal. Clearly, Rebecca Nurse has a great motivation led by her faith in Christ. Governor Danforth asked Rebecca if she was ready to confess her role in witchcraft. Instead she replied “Why, it is a lie, it is a lie: how may I damn myself? I cannot, I cannot” (Miller p. 1115). It is obvious that Rebecca Nurse's honesty leads to death but she knew that life in Heaven is forever lasting. Her confidence stayed strong as she later stated “Let you fear nothing! Another judgement waits us all” (Miller p. 1118)! Even though John Proctor was a sinner however he lived his life trying to be like Jesus Christ “There be no love for Satan in this house, mister” (Miller p. 1073). He eventually confessed his sins, died for God and aimed to be the best man possible “ I'll show you a great doin'...” (Miller p. 1045). John Proctor committed adultery by having an affair with a younger girl, Abigail Williams. He knew what he did was wrong and disregarded God's word. John Proctor confessed and apologized to his wife which shows he took responsibility for his betrayal against her and God. Also, while talking to the judges he confessed his sin of adultery and let the public know he ruined his pure reputation. The judge suggested to Proctor that he admits the stories of witchcraft and live or deny the accusations and die “ I think you must tell him, John” (Miller p. 1074). Not only are Rebbeca Nurse and John Proctor similar but they are also different in many ways. Rebecca Nurse is 72 while John Proctor is much younger and in his mid-thirties. They both spend a great amount of time helping the people of Salem but they do different tasks. Proctor was a hard working farmer “ I were planting far out to the forest edge” (Miller p. 1063). On the other hand, Rebecca Nurse was a midwife and delivered babies for many people. She is known