Purpose and use of fear

[dagalla35]

This thread will talkt about how and why fear is used in Miller's The Crucible. Fear seems to be what sustains the crisis, as everyone is in apanic because they are afraid that the Devil is infecting Salem and causing harm, so they are trying to weed him out before he can cause further damage. Abby also uses fear to control her fellow girls (and therefore the situation) in Act One on page 16 (keep in mind that I have a different book, in a normal book it is probably pg 18 or 19), she threatens them with death, saying, "I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!" In Act Three, by acting as if Mary's spirit was attacking her, she puts the fear of being hanged into Mary, causing her to switch onto Abby's side and causing Proctor's arguement to be destroyed. It is ironic that fear is causing such mayhem in Salem, as Puritans normally tried to use fear to bring about discipline and order. Any other thoughts on the importance of fear?

[bezhang38]

Fear plays an important role in the tyranny of consensus because a few characters manipulate fear (the crisis) either to gain or keep control (mainly in Acts 1 and 2). For example, as stated above, Abigail uses fear to control her friends and much of the town by accusing people of witchcraft, such as Elizabeth Proctor. She realizes that she will not only become safe by accusing others but also gain power. By manipulating the crisis, Abigail has become the center of the consensus as all of the attention and debate surrounds her. In addition, Cheever benefits from the crisis because now he has the power to arrest numerous people, thus giving him more power. The tyranny of consensus also forces good people to do bad things. For example, Tituba accuses others for self-preservation; even though she would have been hanged without the accusations, it is still wrong. In more general terms, the crisis has benefited characters, such as Mary Warren, who has played an important role (in Act 2) as she dines with high officials and judges, thus giving her more power.

[emlysek35]

I believe in act III, like Danny said, is a great scene to show how the use of fear can be manipulated. Many characters benefit from the crisis, especially Abigail in act III. We see here not only that Abigail “sees” the spirit of Mary attack but, she is fueling the situation. Abigail has been given the role in the community, due to the crisis, that anything she sees is the truth. She was the first to accuse, so she must be the victim. This is the mindset of characters like Cheever and Hathorne and Danforth. Abigail strikes fear into Mary in this scene. Mary Warren will now fear that she will be punished for her “made up” story. Abigail strikes fear into Danforth that witchcraft is corrupting Salem and must be stopped. Abigail also uses the crisis to put fear into Proctor that he may loose his wife and the trust of the people in Salem. Even with Proctor, Hale, Mary Warren, and Nurse Francis all pleaing that the girls are frauds, the consensus stands. Proctor was too late and he can no longer change the consensus no matter how many followers he may have because he is outside the consensus and Abigail is in it.

[kafisch38]

Throughout the play, fear controls the characters and the decisions they make. Fear created the thought of witchcraft within the town of Salem, and fear is what is forcing people to point fingers in Act I. Fear witholds the tyranny of consensus, by putting people in and taking people out. Living in fear is what keeps you within the consensus and saying what you really think can get you kicked out if it is against the majority.

[vemurph35]

The same people trying to control this situation with fear are the same people who are being controled by fear, as seen in multiple characters in the story so far. High officals such as Danforth in Act III tries to scare the girls into telling the truth by saying, "to God every soul is precious and His vengeance is terrible on them that take life without cause" (108), which is his way of controling the situation, but only results in more chaos when Abigail scares Mary into turning against Proctor like Danny mentioned before. It seems that there is too much fear that those who are really looking for the truth are being consumed by lies or fear of being truned against.

[sadejoh35]

I think in act III, it becomes apparent that fear is the greatest source of leverage. Evidence and testimony of anything besides fear is useless. Logic plays no part in the courtroom of Salem. An example of this would be the when Proctor was trying to prove the innocence of his wife, along with Francis's and Corey's. Despite the many depositions he had prepared, Danforth still did not believe that the women were innocent and the girls were faking. However, he was beginning to change his mind until Abigail began her charade. As soon as she started pretending to see Mary's "spirit", the judge went from logical to naive. He took Abigail's side and kept the women in jail all because of his paranoia and fear of witches.

[sobener35]

I would definitely agree that fear is what seems to sustain the crisis. Even from the very beginning of the book in Act I, it is clear that fear has a big role in the whole story. The fear of his daughter being involved in witchcraft is what causes Parris to act so irrationally in the very beginning. Also, the fear of her father finding out what is going on in the woods it what causes Betty to go into the shocked state that she was in in the first place. Betty was afraid of being killed or whipped, so she went into shock, and that was the beginning of the whole thing. Fear plays a huge role in every single event throughout The Crucible.