A Goodness In Humankind Essay Research Paper — страница 2
gifts of knowledge. Hale’s reputation and his need for respect thrives on the knowledge based on his reading. Therefore, he comes to believe that the answers to all problems come from reading books. Later on in the play, he questions the honesty behind the girls’ accusations because of their peculiar behavior and the unfairness of the court officials toward the accused. Hale could not find a cure in his books to prevent witchcraft and soon came to realize that the witchcraft involved in the trials are fake. After struggling with the court officials to understand his views on his trials, he becomes very frustrated and quits the court. He later comes to realize his errors in finding his personal responsibilities and tries to prevent everyone else from doing the same thing: “‘Let you not mistake your duty as I mistook my own…beware…cleave to no faith when faith bring blood”’ (132). He finds that his books and his knowledge based on them have misled him, thinking that they held solutions to the problems in Salem. He now looks into his own heart for the solutions to the cause of the trials, and he does what he can to save the accused from falling victim to the injustices of the court. His frustration in trying to reason with court officials about the trials opens Hale’s eyes and make him realizes that it his duty to stop the courts from killing innocent people. Further in the play, more personal responsibilities are revealed, as shown by Proctor when he is angered at the intolerance of Danforth, a man of high authority in Salem. Deputy Governor Danforth is a very serious court official who does not let anything “interfere with an exact loyalty to his position and cause” (85). It is because of his relation with the law that he comes to believe it is his duty to enforce the law of Salem. A person of his stature would not want to believe John Proctor’s explanation of the dishonesty behind the accusations of witchcraft because it would be an insult to the judicial system of Salem. This story would go against the law that Danforth stood for and supported. John senses that Danforth is a very intelligent man who knows much about the lies behind the witchcraft accusations, but his loyalty to the court prevents him from believing them. His duty as a court official prevents Danforth from realizing his responsibility to aid John in protesting against the witchcraft accusation. He tells him of his misguidance and shows him what his real purpose in the village must be: “‘For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all you black hearts that his fraud—God damns our kind especially…and we will burn together!”’ (120). John Proctor realizes that it is their responsibility to bring the people out of ignorance and realize that the hysteria that the girls started is based on lies. It seems that john Proctor told Danforth that his loyalty to the court is misleading him to support the young girls in Salem. The development of John Proctor and Reverend Hale’s insight into the witchcraft trials shows how their duties and responsibilities was revealed to them through fear, intolerance, and frustration brought by the outbreak of hysteria in Salem of 1692. In a way, Arthur Miller displays how humans can find their mistakes and learn from them, thus revealing the overall goodness of humankind. Miller wrote this play as a way of warning people how mass hysteria can come about. The play is not only written as a plea against the Red Scare of the McCarthy Era, but as a warning to the public that people must realize and accept their responsibilities so that another outbreak of hysteria will not transpire. Ignorance as well as prejudice, is the cause of outbreaks of hysteria in Salem and in McCarthy Era. It is apparent that another outbreak of hysteria involves segregation of gay, lesbians, and ethnic minorities. People falsely accuse innocent people of being evil out of ignorance and fear, thinking that their beliefs are somewhat strange and even wrong. Arthur Miller wants us to realize our responsibilities, as Proctor and Hale have done, and do what is morally right. Miller’s play, The Crucible, asks one important question to the reader: Can the people of this present day generation see past the ignorance and prejudice found in today’s society and accept their own responsibilities so no more acts of injustice develop again?
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