THE CRUCIBLE This research paper will examine how the theme in Arthur Millers play The Crucible, shows how ...betrayal of the self no less than of others (Bigsby xi), is connected to both McCarthyism in the 1950s and the Salem witch trials in the 1690s. The Puritans were a group that had suffered religious persecution in the Old World and came to America to establish their own religion in a place where they would be free of any type of persecution. Because of the personal persecution they endured in England, the puritans in turn became the persecutors when they were in America.The Puritans were the type of people who felt that there way of life was absolutely right, and all other ways were wrong. If you were not a member in good standing with the church, you were not allowed to remain in the community. The Puritans had two major beliefs, The Doctrine of the Elect and Theocracy.The Doctrine of the Elect better known as predestination or foreordination is the belief that when a person is born or at any time later in their life, they might be chosen by God to become one of the Elect, which is one of the people who would receive divine salvation. Those who were not among the select would not receive divine salvation. There is nothing that a person could do to be chosen, it was entirely predestined by God. No amount of good works, righteous living or moral behavior could help a person achieve this status.Since no one knew if they were one of the Elect, everyone lived a good life in order to be prepared for being elected when the day came. The Puritans also believed that if God could elect certain people to be saved, then the Devil could select certain people to be bewitched. The Devil, to the Puritans, was an active enemy to mankind because they accepted the story that the Devil was once one of Gods angels who had fallen from grace, and that now the Devils job is to continually try to destroy what God ha...
