The Crucible - Religion Vs. Personal Morals

Religion vs. Personal Morals

Two hundred people were accused and (Coordinating conjunction between phrases) nineteen hanged in Salem, and (Coordinating conjunction between clauses) yet witchcraft is growing everywhere around the world. During a holocaust people would kill thousands of people of a certain trait, handpicking everyone without giving anyone a chance to defend him or her self. And the same thing happened in Salem, Massachusetts through Arthur Miller's The Crucible. When Reverend Parris caught many girls dancing in the deep wood around a fire, accusations begin to soar all over Salem. Marry Warren, like John Procter, wanted to tell what really happed but people such as Reverend Hale thought the accusations more important and somewhat ignored it. Soon some people feel guilty for the hangings and many people were hurt. One of the important lessons in the play is not to always follow your religion, but follow your personal morals.

Reverend Hale first tries to meticulously follow his religious beliefs when he comes to Salem to find witches; however, (Conjunctive adverb) ignores following his good judgment. First he feels as if he is a man of god and comes to town with many heavy books on witches which he explains are heavy because of there superiority (Subordinate clause), "They must be; they are weighted with authority."(36). Then later on when he questions John Procter and his wife to test what good Christians they are he lets Elizabeth Procter, Johns wife, (Appositive Phrase) get accused then soon after John is accused of being a witch. Afterward Hale regrets not interfering with accusations and pleads for Elizabeth to convince John to confess. He feels as though he is responsible for many lives and doesn't want more people to die. He tries to convince her by telling her that god would like it more for her to lie and keep her life than to not lie, and throw her life away. "Cleave to no faith, when faith brings blood" (132) says Reverend Hale trying to make her convince Procter to confess. So Hale came to fully realize that he should follow his morals, follow what is truly right, and balance out his religion with his morals (Parallel structure).

While John Procter's wife followed verbatim what the bible says, he on the other hand followed more of his instincts. For example when Hale was questioning John Procter (Gerund Phrase) about attending church he says in act two "I surely did come when I could, and when I could not I prayed in this house." (65). During Rev Hale's questioning he didn't quite understand the severity of the conditions and then when Procter was telling the truth and opened up to the court, not intending to exacerbate the situation (Participial Phrase) was accused of being a witch. When Mary Warren stated, "You're the Devils man" (118) it expunged Procter's chance of being believed and he didn't