The CrucibleJohn Harran Question # 5April 04, 2001 There was a real evil that stalked Salem in 1692. However, it hadnothing to do with Witchcraft or Satan. The evil that stalked Salem in 1692was a characteristic that existed in the the past. It is also a characteristic ofthe present and will probably exist in the future. This evil characteristic insociety is power. Many leaders, as well as everyday people crave power. Miller wrote this play in the 1950`s when communism was a major threat tomany Americans as well as much of the world. Millions of People fearedCommunism because of the power it can have on people’s lives. In the play The Crucible a young women named Abigail Williams thinks she has the power to condemn anyone she wants. Abigail blamesTituba (who is another young women in Salem) of using witchcraft toenchant two girls into a coma-like state. Abigail realizes she has this powerafter Tituba confessed to being under the control of Satan. As Abigail feelsshe now has this power, she admits she is under the control of Satan. Abigailthen starts naming names of people in Salem who follow the Devil.Power existed in society in the past. An another example of how anover abundance of power is evil would be the Reign of Adolf Hitler. Hitler,who was a powerful dictator in Germany, tried to take over all of Europe. Power usually begins when one person or a group of people see an openopportunity to advance and when they do so they become overwhelmed withpower. In Hitler’s case, he saw that he had the power to control all of Germany. Therefore, he thought he would have the power to control all ofEurope.The evil known as power feeds off of greed. An example of escalatingpower would be when Abigail Williams saw that she had condemned onewomen (Tituba) and she began to condemn many women by accusing themon Witchcraft. Fear is a real evil, it works by causing people to be terrified ofpeople of things. During the ...
