The Crucible

The book "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller was published in the year 1976. It takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials in the year 1692. This is the time period of the Puritans. Puritan writing was very popular during this time and this book uses the same tone as a lot of puritan writing. The book, "The Crucible" uses the same kind of language as Puritan writing. It is kind of hard to understand in some parts of the book, because this language is so different from the modern kind of writing styles that I am used to reading. I think that this book is the same as the other Puritan works that I have read in this class, but in some ways it is also different. The other Puritan stories that I have read including Mary Rowlandson's, "A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mary Rowlandson" and Bradford's "Of Plymouth Plantation", have been a bit boring. The writing styles of these two stories were quite dull. There were not a lot of details to spice up the writing, which made them harder to read and understand. Both of these were written in Puritan times and they were both typical Puritan writings. I think that "The Crucible" used a lot of the same language as the other two Puritan works, but I believe that it was way more interesting than the other stories. "The Crucible" was more interesting and I think that that is due to all the dialogue that was in it. "The Crucible" was written in a kind of a drama format, like a play. Therefore, there is a lot of dialogue in it. There was not as much dialogue in the other stories, especially "A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mary Rowlandson". There was hardly any dialogue in this story, which is what I think made it more boring. The parts of "The Crucible" that were not dialogue were a lot like typical Puritan writing because it had very little details in it. These parts were dull and difficult to read. The book, "The Crucible" showed a lot of beliefs that belonged to the Puritans as well. Religion was referenced a lot in this book, just like in the other Puritan writing. "The Crucible" is about a girl who is very sick. Her father is a minister and he wants to believe that she is just sick, but everyone in the town is saying that it is witchcraft. In this book, the author describes witches as people that the devil controls. They can fly and they make people fall ill. This is why all the towns people are saying that a witch did this to the ministers daughter. Religion and God and the Devil are all mentioned many times throughout this book. This is common with a lot of Puritan writing. The witches in the town are considered demonic, because the Devil is the one who enlists them to do harm onto the people of the town. If someone is accused of being a witch, they are hung. This is because the people were all so afraid of the witches because they are demonic. The language and beliefs shown in this book remind me a lot of Puritan writing and the beliefs shown in Puritan writings.
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.