Valley High School

The Product of Human Fault

Exploring Human Weakness in the Crucible

Eoin Schulze

English III

Mrs. Ostyn

17 December 2024
 Scottish philosopher, David Hume, once wrote, “Weakness, fear, melancholy, together

with ignorance, are the true sources of superstition.” True to this fact, superstition in Salem was a

product of weakness in people. The play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, shows how weakness of

character is what truly drives the Salem witch trials of the 17th century. Written to show the

similarities between 1950 “witch hunts” and those of the 1600s, it shows just how bad things can

get when people give in to their weakness in search of power, prestige, or vindication. It follows

the life of one John Proctor as he struggles to disprove the allegations made against himself and

his wife, leading up to his death as a witch, which signals the end of the witch trials of 1693. The

Crucible is a play portraying more the idea of jealousy, human weakness, and hypocrisy being

the drive of the witch trials than the thought of witches living in Salem. Abigail’s jealousy of

Elizabeth Proctor leads her to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft. Parris’s pride leads to a feud

between himself and Giles, John, and Francis about money and land, though it is one-sided.

Danforth refuses to “trade lives for a lie” when Proctor refuses to call out fellow witches, even

though that is exactly what he does the entire time.

Jealousy drives envy and want in humans. Abigail is jealous of Elizabeth’s marriage to

Proctor, leading her to call out Elizabeth as a witch. Elizabeth says:

‘It is her dearest hope, John, I know it. There be a thousand names; why does she call

mine? There be a certain danger in calling such a name-I am no Goody Good that sleeps

in ditches, nor Osburn, drunk and half-witted. She’d dare not call out such a farmer’s

wife but there be a monstrous profit in it. She thinks to take my place, John.’ (Miller 493)

Abigail is going after Elizabeth because she had an affair with Proctor and now wants to marry

him, but because of Elizabeth, she cannot. So, she decides to call her out as a witch so that there

is nothing in her way to marry John Proctor. But it is not just jealousy over people that drives the
witch hunts. Thomas Putnam is reaching out for Giles land and timber using his daughter to call

out witches. “Thomas Putnam is reaching out for land!...Remove that man, Marshal!...You’re

hearing lies, lies!” (505). Thomas wants Giles’ land, so he has his daughter Ruth call out witches

so that he may take land from Giles once his wife is proven a witch. As much as jealousy drives

envy and want, weakness leads to man’s downfall and the greatest sin.

Human weakness leads many people to feud, resulting in the witch trials being

accelerated to drive the feuds. Parris’s pride leads to a feud, though one-sided, in his mind with

Giles Corey, John Proctor, and Francis Nurse. Parris says:

‘Mr. Corey, you will look far for a man of my kind at sixty pounds a year! I am not used

to this poverty; I left a thrifty business in the Barbados to serve the Lord. I do not fathom

it, why am I persecuted here? I cannot offer one proposition but there be a howling riot

of argument. I have often wondered if the Devil be in it somewhere; I cannot understand

you people otherwise.’ (474) Parris is upset at his salary, even though it is much more

than most people would be making, which leads to him creating a feud with Giles, John, and

Francis. This leads him to promote the calling of witches so that he can dispose of the people

with which he is arguing. Likewise, Proctor creates a problem for himself as well. Danforth’s

pride leads to him ignoring hard evidence towards the fact that the witch trials are being used to

promote people’s agendas. Danforth says:

“‘What proof do you submit for your charge, sir?’... ‘My proof is there!’ (Pointing to the

paper) ...‘You will surely tell us the name’...‘In that case, I have no choice but to arrest
 you for contempt of this court, do you know that?’” (512-513) Danforth, even after being

shown a written testimony saying that Putnam is reaching out for land, does nothing about to

appear powerful because of his pride in the fact that he was taught at Boston and has hung many

people and thrown more in jail. However, instead of human weakness and jealousy, it could be

that the people of Salem genuinely believe in witches walking amongst them.

It could be argued that the people in Salem village might have believed in witches and

were trying to get rid of them due to the Puritan religion speaking of witches and the Devil living

among humans. However, this thought is not supported by Miller’s The Crucible. As seen in the

points already stated, it is obvious that fear plays a role in the calling of witches. Parris, so that

his name does not get blackened by the people of Salem saying that his niece and daughter have

been caught in witchcraft, has Tituba confess to being a witch and putting a charm on them so

that the name Parris does not get blackened. “You will confess yourself or I will take you out and

whip you to your death, Tituba!” (483). Parris is willing to do anything to get Tituba to confess

so that he and his family are not killed because of the accusations of them being witches.

Hypocrisy also plays a role in calling out of witches in Salem Village.

Hypocrisy is a bane. It makes the words of those who commit it worthless. Some of the

people of Salem are hypocritical. Danforth says that he will not trade lives for lies, while that is

what he is doing in the trials. Danforth says:

“‘Proctor, you mistake me. I am not empowered to trade your life for a lie. You have

most certainly seen some person with the Devil. Mr. Proctor, a score of people have

already testified they saw this woman with the Devil.” (537) The girls and the woman

have spoken out against people that their parents or they have grudges against., telling lies on the

stand to settle their grievances and to give themselves an aura of power. Danforth has evidence
of this, but he continues to go through the trials to appear powerful. Mary Warren is a hypocrite

as well. She speaks of calling out witches to further her agenda and that of Abigail, whose end

goal is to be rid of Elizabeth to marry Proctor. Mary protects Elizabeth from the court, speaking

of her upright standings. ‘Somewhat mentioned. But I said I never see no sign you ever sent your

spirit out to hurt no one, and seeing I do live so closely with you, they dismissed it’ (492).

Elizabeth’s name was mentioned in court by Abigail, but Mary Warren, instead of staying silent

to allow Abigail to be able to be with Proctor, speaks out to save Elizabeth, which is an act of

hypocrisy against what she has done to the other women being accused.

Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is not so much a play about the witch trials of Salem,

but rather it is about portraying the human characteristics of jealousy, human weakness, and

hypocrisy in Salem Village driving the witch trials. The jealousy of Abigail towards Elizabeth

Proctor, the human weakness and pride that Parris shows so strongly in his fight with Giles,

Francis, and Proctor. Also, the hypocrisy of Danforth, who refuses to trade Proctor’s life for a

lie, even though that is exactly what he has done in the witch trials. In the end, superstition truly

is made through fear, weakness, and ignorance.

Miller, Arthur. “The Crucible.” Collections. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co., 2017,

pp. 458-539