Pandemonium runs rampant, and suppressed children cry out witch. Scenes such as these from Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, provides a fictional depiction of the infamous 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, witch trials. During the play, the entire community suffers from the mass hysteria that starts with a few young girls dancing in the woods. When the girls are inflicted with abnormal illnesses and problems, the community assumes that witchcraft is involved. After many accusations, trials, and executions, the community’s hysteria finally ends. Certain characters fight their own internal battles against the backdrop of an entire community in pandemonium. Miller uses three characters who clearly manifest this internal battle. First, Mary Warren’s whole personality turns upside down when she is torn between telling the truth and surviving the trials. John Proctor is the next who is forced to contemplate a choice between the importance of his family and his own name. The third, Reverend Hale, battles with himself about whether or not to carry out his job requirements or to do what he knows is right. All three characters face difficult choices that are eating away at each one’s conscience. Should they do what they believe is right, or what will help them survive the witch trials? Each character and situation is unique, beginning with Mary Warren. Inner turmoil plagues a girl named Mary Warren, house servant to the Proctors, throughout the play. When Mary first appears in the beginning of the hysteria, the reader perceives her to be a very shy girl who will never speak her mind. She is afraid to stand up to Abigail and tell the truth about what really happens in the woods the night Reverend Parris catches them dancing. What happens in the woods is more than just dancing, though. Abigail makes life threats against all the girls involved in the dancing, scaring Mary Warren. This submissive characteristic also shows itself...
