Think to yourself, “What are the ideas in The Crucible?” Here are some suggestions–

The idea that there is evil in the world.

The idea that this evil can infect people.

The idea that some people are more righteous than others and therefore can pass judgment on others.

OK, so now that you have defined some of the ideas in the play (and there are others),

think of how some of the characters have acted upon at least one of these ideas. Give specific examples. Name names, describe scenes, quote dialogue—teachers love it when you get specific!

Hopefully you have read the play and know that it takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the witch hunt and trials. The witch hunt started in Europe where if you were found guilty of practicing witchcraft, you were burned at the stake. In this community, as in Europe at the time, witches were seen as evil and they were looking to do away with them in any way possible. In Salem, the witches were hanged instead of burned.

This all seemed well and good (except for the witches obviously) but as we see in the play, it quickly spirals out of control. Toward the conclusion of this play, we see people simply pointing the finger at people accusing them of being a witch and concocting some ridiculous idea as to why (e.g. she was seen catching mice outside her house, so maybe she was cooking them into her potion). As the story progresses, we see more and more innocent people being hanged and if I remember the play well enough, I think some children were hanged as well based solely on accusation without proof.

Therefore, some of the characters were “acting on an idea” in that sense. People were found guilty on the basis of an accusation and not given a fair trial.

Although we have come a long way since the time of the Salem witch trials, this could potentially still happen in 21st century America. If you accused someone of being a terrorist or a member of an organization such as Al-qaeda (sp?), it would likely be difficult for that person to rebound from such an accusation in a post-Sept 11 world.

In fact, a modern day witch hunt happened as recently as the 1940’s and 1950’s. If you look up Joe McCarthy and communism you will find tons of information, but basically Sen. Joe McCarthy started a “communist hunt” similar to the witch hunt that took place in “The Crucible”. Many famous people were accused of being communist and their careers were ruined as a result.