Final+Writing+Prompt

The word "crucible" has two different meanings, though, both of them relevant to this play. The first one "a container for purifying metals" relates to all of the townspeople being stripped of their masks and bearing all for everyone to see. Then, " severe test" is exactly what all of the people in Salem were put through one the witch hunts began. Everyone in the town was stripped of their innocences and down to their essences and was showing what they truly were. They dealt with it so poorly and they could all be read just from a glance. So people thought everyone else was a witch, which started the accusations. This brought on the mass hysteria in Salem and poeple did not deal with it rationally. All of them are tested in different way and while some of them deal with it otheres run away. Proctor is broken down and bears all. He tells Danforth he "knew" Abigail. He thought that by condemning himself, he would be comdemning her as well. Things backfire when Elizabeth denies this, to save her husband's name and life. He then sacrifices himself at the end of the play when he refuses to sign a written confession and comdemn others to a fate of hanging for practicing witchcraft(because they weren't). Then there is Elizabeth who is tested to keep her faith in her husband after he had cheated on her and got her drug into the witch hunt. Most importantly you have Abigail Williams that is so ashamed of being found out that she is a liar, and fears ridicule and flees to Barbados. She did not handle anything. she started a problem, then left everyone else to clean up the mess. With the town left in a mist of hysteria, they are left to convit those accused with out Abigail there to stand at the trials. The town procedes to do so, but otheres then stand up and eal with the problems at hand (like Proctor). Salem is then left in an abyss of confusion and has to deal with the aftermath of the witch hunts. Suspicion has to die down and people have to build up trust again. Though the accounts of what happend with forever effect all societies.