Crucible Essay

Separation of Church and State

During the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, many people went through difficult times, or crucibles. During these trials, people were being accused of performing witchcraft, though no real proof could support this, only the word of the accuser. The result of these accusations was the death of many innocent people. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Miller argues that the church and state should be separated. Miller believed that if the state were in charge at the time, many innocent lives would have been saved from the false accusations of witchcraft.

In the 1950's, a similar event to the Salem Witch Trials was taking place during Miller's lifetime, McCarthyism. Many American leaders were accused of being communists, though there was no real proof. During the time, no one argued against McCarthyism for fear of being accused themselves. During The Salem Witch Trials, witchcraft, like McCarthyism, had no way to prove anyone was guilty or innocent. "But witchcraft is ipso facto, on its face and by its nature, an invisible crime, is it not?" (100). Arthur was able to establish ethos in his play because of the similarities of these two times which made him able to show the true and harsh reality of what happened during the trials.

Another aspect of rhetoric that Miller uses in the play to persuade his audience to agree with his argument is pathos. The strongest emotion Miller is trying to elicit toward the reader is anger at the unfair court system. During this time, Puritans truly believed in witchcraft and that the devil could control someone. Because witchcraft was an "invisible crime" one could not prove their innocence and was therefore assumed to be guilty. "Goody Osburn – will hang. But not Sarah Good. For Sarah Good confessed, y'see."(56). unless you lied and admitted to witchcraft, you were automatically to be hanged. These unfair conditions would most likely make the reader frustrated that because of the strict church, people could not prove themselves innocent.

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