Common Module “The Crucible” Essay

Resource Description

‘Storytelling hints at human perfections. Where there is perfection, there is no story to tell.’

Use the above statement to consider how stories about human experience can challenge assumptions or ignite new ideas. Discuss with close reference to The Crucible. 

The concept that false assumptions have damaging effects on individuals is amplified in ‘The Crucible’; as people’s innate confidence in stereotypes create inconsistencies in a religiously crippled community, further driving them into chaos. Arther Miller’s allegorical tale ‘The Crucible’– crafted to publicly display his renunciation and fear of McCarthyism in 1950s America — ultimately reveals the consequences that the human imperfection of misguided assumption has for the already dysfunctional town of Salem, Massachusetts. These fundamental values create a paradox between Puritan faith; which evokes the human experience of initiating stereotypes, and the importance of being an all-loving ‘gospel Christian.’ Through dramatic storytelling, these assumptions repetitively demand consideration from the audience, as there is an inexplicable obligation to question the integrity of the presented stereotypes and their consequences. Evidently, dangerous presumptions in ‘The Crucible’ are depicted through the belief that young girls are always biblically ‘pure’ and ‘truthful’, accused women are inevitably guilty and that ‘The Law’ is inarguably trustworthy.