The Crucible - Part I: Style and Ideas

The Crucible is an extremely religious book, and its focuses on God's will and word are mentioned frequently throughout the entire Act I. I find that books like this can be a particularly sensitive topic for discussion, so I would like to apologize in advance for my apparent different views on the given subject. I do not mean to disrespect anyone else's opinions, but I cannot avoid the topic, as I am obviously supposed to write five-hundred words about this.

The most interesting thing about the story is the fantastical aspect to it. These girls seriously think they are witches (Miller 18). The author chose this center basis for a reason. This was a controversial issue back when the Puritans were being prosecuted in the New World. The reputation of the Puritans was at stake already, and having witchcraft would not be tolerated not only because it was completely sacrilegious in their eyes, but also because it was endangering the reputation of the relatively new Puritans. The Puritans were sort of hypocrites, mainly because they were demanding their own religious freedom, but they were also completely intolerant of anyone else's beliefs. You would think that they would have learned how it felt from their past. Of course they could not coexist with people who believed in witchcraft, that would mean that they did not believe what the Puritans believed, and that would make them stupid. Basically they're saying "Stupid witches, you should die because you wanted to believe in magic!" Now does that not seem a little rude at least?

I honestly hate how every single tiny detail of life in the Puritan's eyes relates back to God. It angers me that they have this unbreakable fool-proof idea that even the worst situations end up being blessings from God. I mean, it's cool if that is what helps you sleep at night, but I do not think that I could ever trick my mind into believing something like that. In the book, it has not really gotten to the point where they relate things back to God's Way yet, although they had a pretty good opportunity to do that when they were unable to wake Betty up after being caught preforming witchery (Miller 8, 18). I was so sure that they would relate that to some sort of blessing, but they saw it as a threat to God instead. Parris is one of those guys who is constantly worrying about what others think of him. He is a Reverend who does not even follow his own teachings, which include avoiding selfishness. I think that obsessing over self-image is a little on the selfish side, is it not? 

So far, my opinion of the Puritan religion is not a great one. I am seeing a whole lot of hypocrisy, which seems to be apparent in many religions, even now. I understand that some people were avid in their keeping up with religion, but mostly I am seeing the more radical ends. I do not think that these people are very smart with this logic. 

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.