Crucible Movie Review the Crucible

¶ … Crucible Movie Review

The Crucible

b) the evils of jealousy, greed, and ambition can be more powerfully destructive than any supernatural evils. Arthur Miller's original play has been altered in this film version; but still, the bottom line is that hysteria stirred up by religious passions can be very destructive. Those in the church congregation called together by Reverend Parris at the opening of the film heard him say that witches are "hateful enemies of God...and he may well find signs of Lucifer" when Mr. Hale (who is supposedly an expert on witches) comes to town. It was like, the die is cast; whether or not real devil spirits are here, we'll need to identify some in order to justify all this rampant emotion. And there are those like Rebecca, who had a more reasoned approach; "let us blame ourselves rather than the devil." She, in time, is among the accused.

As Salem citizens begin to discuss whether or not there is witchcraft among them, opinions vary widely about whether or not God was pulling strings in terms of who loses children to an early death. There is among several of the citizens' very strong ambitions to be the leader in the fight against the devil. So strong it causes irrational behavior. I'm not sure it is just "greed" but it is jealousy of youthfulness and in a way, jealousy of sexual activity by Abigail, too.

People say rude, ridiculous things in their misguided approach to what is Holy and what is evil. "You think it was God who caused you to not lose a grandchild and I have lost all but one," a woman said to Rebecca. "God never spoke in my ear," said John Proctor, a reasoned answer to the bedlam that has pervaded the tow.. "I can't think of anyone else he's done the favor for. Hale, who has ambition to be seen as a wise research, said: "I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face." Citizens look in awe at Hale, because he comes with a reputation and a stack of thick books. When Hale gathers the girls together who were part of the silly dancing in the woods that night, he casts his own spell on them by saying, "You can save yourselves by telling me who it was" (who was leading the dancing). When Abigail confesses that it was the Haitian slave who "made her do it," the full power of this cruel investigation is now in play.

When Rev. Parrish begins whipping the slave (Tituba), the viewer by now feels that religious emotions have turned from a belief in Christianity to something devilish; it is like the church community is in a trance, feeling guilty and yet lashing out irrationally. Tituba confesses because she is being lashed. "He has you by the throat this very moment, doesn't he," Hall says. Tituba admits that "he" (the devil) does indeed. Then when all the girls began "confessing" that they saw the devil too, the story is swirling out of control. Emotions are flying out of control, and tempers.

When the judge arrives in Salem, his telling statement (that rings of Senator McCarthy's absurd vendetta against alleged communists) is that "...His majesty's government is now determined that the devil shall not rule over one single inch of Massachusetts." Clearly the point of the British government searching is to keep citizens in fear by laying blame. The finger pointing and paranoia totally grips this story. People are driven by ambition to either wriggle out of being accused, or to find a guilty person and become a hero.

QUESTION #2: Was John Proctor essentially a good man? Yes, Proctor was a good man in his heart; he made a mistake by getting involved with Abigail, but when she came back to him hoping to rekindle the flame between them, he turned down the chance for another sexual liaison with a woman much younger than his wife. When the community began to turn hysterical, Proctor was a voice of reason. He advised the arriving "expert" Hale that no children were "afflicted" with witchcraft. Proctor was very candid with his wife in confessing that he had an affair with Abigail. And when he and Abigail later fought, it was just part of the insane atmosphere of accusations and reprisals and guilt; the whole town was in turmoil, so Proctor's action cannot be absolutely held against him. In the effort to clear his wife's name, Proctor shows that he has a good heart, he is not perfect and in the trial he confesses; "I...am...not...that...pure!"

QUESTION #3: Select another character in the film. I select Abigail, an orphan, one of the accused, who was only doing the provocative things a youthful person would do. She is thrown to the wolves and accused by many of the villagers; yes, she has weaknesses, but she is really only a pawn in the game that is being played. She has passion for a man who once loved her, and who can blame her for that? She is a scapegoat, but she also is an accuser, and so her frailty and lack of backbone actually become endearing qualities, compared with the hate and rage. She is like the innocent teen who gets in with the wrong crowd, but she can't extract herself from the terrible situation she has found herself in.

QUESTION #4: Contemporary issues that are like a witch-hunt. In political campaigns, such as were witnessed in America in 2004, those candidates who did not support the executive branch's administering of the "war on terrorism" had their patriotism challenged. Former Senator Tom Daschle was hounded by attack ads that questioned his patriotism; Daschle had questioned some of the spending and the strategies of the Bush Administration, and the Republican Party spend millions on attack ads in his home state when he was running for re-election. He was defeated, a victim of a different kind of witch-hunt. A hunt for those who aren't patriotic enough to support the president no matter what.