Salem Witch Trials Paranoia Essay - 1629 Words

In the 1680’s and 1690’s there was mass hysteria in New England over supposed witchcraft. The most famous outbreak was in Salem, Massachusetts, hence the name Salem Witch Trials. In Salem, there were young girls who started acting strangely, and they leveled accusations of witchcraft against some of the West Indian servants who were immersed in voodoo tradition. Most of the accusations were against women, and soon the accusations started to shift to the substantial and prominent women. Neighbors accused other neighbors, husbands accused their wives, etc. and it kept going on for a while. There was this nature of evil and the trials didn’t end until nineteen Salem residents were put to death in 1692, more importantly before the girls†¦show more content†¦The nature of evil was spread by Satan and the people that followed, which were witches. Acts of witchcraft was one of the greatest crimes a person could commit, that is punishable by death. When the group of girls were acting strange and got accused of being witches, everyone started pointing fingers. There was the paranoia that any person could be a part of a conspiracy that was created by the devil caused false accusations to be spread around. This paranoia was used to make false accusations on many innocent citizens because people were trying not to take the focus away from themselves. There was research that was done on those that were accused and what it showed was that most of the accusations were against middle-age women who had few or no children and were widowed. The accused witches â€Å"were of low social position, and because of some domestic conflicts, they were accused of other crimes and were considered abrasive† (Brinkley, 86). by other people around them. Once a person was accused of being under the influence of the devil, which is a big offence, they would start to be treated differently from the rest. It wasn’t the actual presence of Sa tan that caused this chaos, but the anxiety and fear of him that did. The Puritan society had very little tolerance to women who had independence and those who had come into possession of land and property on their own challenged theShow MoreRelatedSalem Witch Trials And Mccarthyism Are Similar Essay1230 Words   |  5 PagesOctober 18, 2016 How Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism are Similar In this process essay the reader will learn how the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism are similar. Both situations ended up taking on a mob mentality. The Salem Witch Trials started in 1690s when the Trials began, and by the end, over 200 people were accused of witchcraft. The people had a strong belief of the devil and were very religious. The outside threats that were surrounding the people of Salem had created a fear andRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1694 Words   |  7 Pagespets named after their owner’s favorite comic character, an email address named after their favorite pastime. However, sometimes the meaning of a name is less obvious. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller recreates the anxiety and hysteria of the Salem witch-trials from 1692. Although the title, not once is the word â€Å"crucible† spoken in the play. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines â€Å"crucible† three ways: â€Å"A pot in which metals or other substances are heated to a very hig h temperature or melted†, â€Å"a difficultRead MoreEssay about McCarthyism as Modern Witch Hunts1614 Words   |  7 PagesMcCarthyism as Modern Witch Hunts McCarthyism: The Real Witch Hunts Some people nowadays may consider the government, or some of its agencies, corrupt. Todays scenario is nothing compared to that of McCarthyism in the 1950s. During McCarthyism, the nation was being torn apart. Their loyalty to one another was crushed and common human decency went down the drain (Miller, Crucible xiv). These Communist hunts were eerily similar to the witch hunts and trials of Salem Massachusetts in theRead MoreThe Hysteria Of Salem Witch Trials871 Words   |  4 Pagescaused the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. This is a question that has been debated about for centuries. Some think that witchcraft was very much alive in Salem although others believe that the first girls who were accusing the witches were crazy and making up stories. In this paper I am going to prove to you my point which is: the hysteria about the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 was due to a small lie or prank that went bad. The girls who started the Salem Witch Trials were just craz y. AlthoughRead MoreThe Art Of Deception : The Origin Of And Escape From The Spread Of Falsehoods Essay1413 Words   |  6 Pagespowerful empires. Although often short-lived, these instances of widespread panic can disrupt social and political order. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller reveals that self-centered ambition underlies the spread of false ideas, which can fuel societal paranoia. However, Miller argues that individuals can escape this hysteria and preserve their dignity if they choose to sacrifice their personal needs by denying false allegations. First, Abigail’s rivalry with Elizabeth Proctor and Mrs. Putnam’s grief overRead MoreTok Essay Art Is a Lie That Brings Us Nearer to the Truth (Pablo Picasso)900 Words   |  4 PagesTOK ESSAY â€Å"Art is a lie that brings us nearer to the truth† (Pablo Picasso) There are different ways for art to portray elements of truth and lies; but what Picasso was mostly referring to with his quote was that art might be a representation of the truth however lies to the human eye in terms of perception. The word art is somehow â€Å"controversial, especially in contemporary philosophy† because it relies on different AOK’s and WOK’s. The main area of art focused to support Picasso’s quoteRead MoreThe Hands Of An Angry God1627 Words   |  7 PagesIan Burke Mr. Giles Honors American Literature 6 Feb. 2015 â€Å"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God† and The Crucible Essay Two coarse yet uniquely fragile societies, three hundred years apart, devoured by individual ideologies that permeated belief systems, that blinded, deafened, and muted citizens, and that ultimately led to gruesome hysteria. â€Å"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God†, written by Jonathan Edwards in the mid-1700’s, is a sermon directed to a Puritan congregation urging with orthodoxRead MoreEssay about Salem witch trials1931 Words   |  8 Pages Salem Witch Trials: Casting a spell on the people Today, the idea of seeing a witch is almost inconsequential. Our Halloween holiday marks a celebration in which many will adorn themselves with pointy black hats and long stringy hair, and most will embrace them as comical and festive. Even the contemporary witchcraft religious groups forming are being accepted with less criticism. More recently, the Blair Witch movie craze has brought more fascination than fear to these dark and magical figuresRead MoreEssay about Finding th e Characters in The Crucible Sympathetic4333 Words   |  18 Pagesawareness of the parallels between the period when the play is set and the time when it is written. The initial audience of the 1950s would be aware of the paranoia in Salem and the persecution of people who value their morals. However audiences today are aware of the double paranoia created by the clear parallels between the witch trials and Arthur Millers personal experiences of being accused of having communist sympathies. This awareness enhances all the themes throughout the play, includingRead MoreThe Changes that John Proctor and Reverend Hale go Through as the Play Progresses2330 Words   |  10 PagesCrucible was Millers inventive way to criticise the paranoia surrounding a too conservative American government. After appearing before the committee numerous times to defend himself of suspected Communist activities, Miller used his pen the greatest weapon to confront the silly attacks purposed upon him. This essay will tell you the general background to the play? What the similarities are between 1690s Salem witchcraft trials and 1950s McCarthy America and most importantly