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An Historical Fiction
In the Crucible, Miller uses two rhetorical modes, that stand out to me, which are the use of symbolism and irony. Symbolism is one of the main modes he uses in the play because the whole plot of the witch trials symbolizes the fear and persecution of communist in the United States in the 1950s, known as McCarthyism. The accusers in Salem represents Joseph McCarthy who accused so called "communist", showing the dangers of false accusations and how fear can negatively influence people's actions. Irony is used to show the difference between the charaters intents and what is happening in reality. For example in the beginning Reverend Hale comes to Salem to find and get rid of the witches but at the end of the play, in act four, he tries to save the accused by wanting them to lie to the judge in order for their life to be saved.
The appeal to morality is mainly shown in the character John Proctor as he has strong moral values at the end of the play. Although, he did have an affair with Abigail, he is willing to unveil that to discredit her in hopes of saving his wife in court. He does make amens with his wife in Act Four. In the end he doesn't want to lie and tarnish his name in the town even at the cost of his life.
Miller uses emotional appeal from John and Elizabeth Proctor to evoke emotions from the audience such as anger, fear, and empathy for them. The Proctors are the victims of accusations in Salem (even though they are innocent). This present in scenes such as them alone in the jail, this highlights the helplessness they feel as John is going to be hung. The emotions the audience feels contributes development of themes(dangers of false accusations) and further engages them into the play.
Finally, this book uses logic thru the characters actions and arguments to combat the irrationals accusations of the witch trials. John Proctor uses logic in his arguments in the court rooms to try to save him and Elizabeth from being hung. However, the use of logic fails against further showing the dangers of abusive powers and false accusations
"But Parris came, and for twenty week he preach nothin’ but golden
candlesticks until he had them. I labor the earth from dawn of day to blink of
night, and I tell you true, when I look to heaven and see my money glaring at
his elbows—it hurt my prayer, sir, it hurt my prayer"(Miller, 35). He uses imagery of the golden candle light to make the connection that light means the characters are moral and religous. For example, John Proctor is willing to labour on the candle sticks just so are more visually pleasing to others. This shows that he not only brings light to the church(figurativly and literally) and willing to do so that Parris will preach about something else than the candles.
"And what shall I say to them? That my daughter and my niece I discovered dancing like heathen in the forest?"(Miller, 2).
"Abominations are done in the forest—"(Miller, 3). Early on in the play the imagery of the forest is connected with the unknown and the sinful witchcraft. This symbolizes that the forest is a place of unknown and evil because the forest is out of sight from the village, which is odd because the village is very tight knit and everyone's action can be monitored. The second way it is established that the forest is a place of evil is by the use of the first occurance of "witch craft" that happens in the beginning of the play, it sets the stage for what happens in the forest.
Dark
"ABIGAIL: Why—? She gulps. Why do you come, yellow bird?
PROCTOR: Where’s a bird? I see no bird!
ABIGAIL, to the ceiling: My face? My face?"(Miller, 63). Miller uses rapid sentences in the dialogue to do two things, first is to rise the tensions that are felt in the scene and to add on the hysteria that is used in the accusations of witchcraft. The rapid back and forth create a sense of urgency and panic in the court room, which is the goal for Abigail since she is trying to get her for witchcraft, it also helps the reader understand the emotional state amongst the characters to better engage them into the play. The hysteria causes by the rapid sentences and energy gets the characters to believe Abigail since she is pretending to see this imaginary bird and blaming it on Mary.
"Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!"(Miller, 80). This is an example of figurative language because in the quote John Proctor is valuing his name and reputation over his own life, going far enough to say he gave his soul to protect it. A soul is something you cannot give because it is thought of as spiritual concept, but he says he will give it to empathize how much he will do to keep his reputation clean.
"I—had not reckoned with goin’ into court. But if I must I will."(Miller, 37) John Proctor's use of the word "goin'" and "reckoned" show that he is an ordinary person using everyday language. This helps to develop the characters personalities and makes them more relatable to the readers. This is different from the formal diction used by officals in the church that is unfamiliar in natural and conversational settings. The difference in dialogues distinguishes characters role and position they have in the play. The unformal diction used by the people who are considered moral such as the Proctors, Corey's and Rebecca Nurse.
"I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!"(Miller, 25). Abigail Willaims is full of hysteria as she jumps from wanting to be with Jesus again to accusing people with being with the devil. She does this in quick succession conveying the emotional chaos in her accusations that puts the rest of Salem in fear