Trinice Sanders

AP. 11

The Power of Fear as it is demonstrated in The Crucible

8-30-07

"The most destructive element in the human mind is fear."

--Dorothy Thompson

Fear is a very potent emotion, an extreme force of nature, in which lies the power destroy many lives. Fear is especially dangerous because it exists in various forms and in some cases cannot be seen or detected by the victim until it is too late. In order to convince society of the power of fear, Arthur Miller in his play, The Crucible, exemplifies through his character Abigail's controlling actions, that if one can control other people's fears, then one can sway them to one's own agenda.

The first person Abigail controls through their fear is John Proctor, who has one major fear, which is his fear of a ruined reputation. Maintaining a good image and name is very important to Proctor. He was very dense in having an affair with Abigail, someone who is perceptive enough to pick up on his weakness and take advantage of it. Proctor felt he could not go to the courts to expose Abigail lest his indiscretions be revealed and Abigail knew this. His affair with Abigail was the one of the only blemishes on Proctors reputation. John Proctor displayed weak character by sleeping with a woman other than his wife. His weak character makes him incapable of handling the storm of emotion that is fear. Because of his fear of a bad reputation Proctor gave Abigail the power by not turning her in for fear of their affair being made public.

Abigail not only controls individuals, but she controls her friends, a group of people, as well. Abigail's friends do everything she does. The do what she does because they are too scared to be there own people and they have a fear and respect for Abigail as a leader. People living in a time of fear and uncertainty will often follow the first person with a solution to there problems. Not only do they follow her around and do what she does, but they listened to her when she said not to tell anyone about their "Witchcraft" in the forest. This shows that they are afraid that she will accuse them of being witches. Their fear of going to jail was strong enough for Abigail to grab onto, just as their fear of being alone was great enough for her to take control. This proves that Abigail completely controlled them by playing into their fears throughout the play.

Another group, or rather mass, of people that was controlled by Abigail was the townspeople. The townspeople believed that witches walked among them. They feared the evil witches and their curses. Abigail knew of this fear and she used that fear to get her out of her predicament, she also used that fear to seek revenge, and the townspeople did not challenge her because she offer a solution to a problem. The townspeople were also very ignorant as to anything that has to do with witches except that witches cast spells. They believe Abigail because she "knows" of witches and again she offers a solution to their problem. This shows that she can control them once she controls the "evidence'' of witches because living amongst witches scares them. The townspeople are a prime example of someone taking advantage of people's fears and offering a solution in order to take control of those people and their fear.

In conclusion, it can be said that fear is a very strong and destructive emotion and that it is often a quiet, undetectable, yet painfully obvious, emotion. Abigail completely took control of the town's fear of witches by offering a solution, which was to kill arrest everyone she, the person with the solution, said to arrest. Not only did she grab a hold of them as a group but as individuals like, proctor, her uncle Parris and Mary warren. If one does not recognize and control one's fear, they enable it to be used as a noose around their neck.