Individual Power in \"The Crucible\"

Individual Power in "The Crucible"

The Crucible is a 1953 by Arthur Miller that was written as a response to the political fascism of Senator Joseph McCarthy and what became known as McCarthyism during the early 1950s. The play is a dramatization of fictional events that took place in Massachusetts during 1692-3 that became known as the Salem witchcraft trials. There are many interpretations and depths of symbolism in the Crucible, but one seminal theme is that temporal authority has no real power over individuals who are able to reserve self-actualization and personal power for themselves.

Essentially, the Crucible deals with assumed occultism in a puritan community. It is about community suspicion, about a presumed expert (the Reverend John Hale) who is able to excise evil, or at least he leads the town to believe so. Fears grows, and like a set of dominoes, from an innocent childhood dance in the woods to a witch hunt for evil under every cover and cabinet. People, of course, will go to great lengths to survive, some will convince themselves that evil is among them (and give up all their personal power), some will refuse to "belong" but remain silent, and some will garner the strength of will to overcome the external and stand up for the truth (Proctor).

One of the basics of power is the difference between moral and secular law -- and the implications of combining the two. Witchcraft becomes a euphemism for sensuality and free thinking, something the Church wanted kept to a minimum during this time period. However, humans are humans, and the morality of thought may well remain in contradiction to secular law, which by its very nature evolves over time, depending on social mores and cultural norms. Many of those initially marginalized in Puritan society end up with personal power that ennobles them, perhaps not legally, but practically. Abigail is an example of this, most especially when she utters:

Oh, how hard it is when pretense falls! But I falls, it falls! You have done your duty by her. I hope it is your last hypocrisy. I pray you will come again with sweeter news for me…. I know you will -- now that your duty's done…. Fear naught. I will save you tomorrow. From yourself I will save you. . . (Act III: finale).

Second, power is perceived in the Crucible in many forms: individual power is tenacious, it holds moral authority, but it means different things to different people, depending on their own level of awareness and ability to be confident in themselves. Secular law, as well, changes the rubric of power in the difference between guilt by evidence, guilt by association, and guile by innuendo. Thus, when the Court supplies judgment, power and justice are supposedly met. Mary Warren echoes this thought:

… like one awakened to a marvelous secret insight: & #8230; it's hard as rock, the judges said. (Act II: 118-28)

Secular laws, of course, are made by men of power. Usually, these laws are enacted under the perception of the public good, or at least what those in power perceive as a way to retain power and engender the status quo. When events and personalities challenge the status quo, however, secular laws may not be enough to silence them. In order to keep control, propaganda and paranoia are often used to "bring events under control."

There is a misty plot afoot so subtle we should be criminal to cling to old respects and ancient friendships (Reverend Hale to Francis Nurse defending the witch trials in the face of the arrest of Rebecca) (Act II: 71-2).

Thus, there three types of overall power in the Crucible are expressed within different characterizations. The Church and men embody most of the power, through faith and a dogma that resists change. Shift in power occurs because the church cannot be openly defied, but rather can be manipulated. The shame of the girls cavorting in the woods under moonlight is momentarily forgiven with the idea that the church must save this village. Finally, the abuse of power, and in fact, as the abuse finishes, there is little less to consume.