The Crucible: Religion Essay Example

a town physician, he suggests that witchcraft has caused her not to wake up. This roots the idea that witchcraft is real and did exists and something ought to be done to eliminate it.

Witchcraft is against the Puritan social norms. Everything in the Puritan society should be black or white and everyone should always that there is only good and evil (Miller, 54). When interrogating Abigail of any involvement in witchcraft threats and lies unfold. Abigail threatens to harm the other girls if they say about what they did in the forest.

However, when they return she lies that Tituba mentioned devil. She also accuses other women of being involved in witchcraft. To Abigail, lies were the only way to save her from the wrath of the society and the government. This is especially because expression of one’s thoughts was forbidden and because the women she was accusing were considered lesser than their male counterparts and their opinions did not count. It is also through hiding in witchcraft that she would be able to take revenge on Proctor for rejecting her.

Religion was also a tool that people used to accomplish their hidden agendas. It allowed the society to treat women as second-class to men was a must for them to wear hats to cover their hair, to be emotionless on the street and could not engage in any physical enjoyment including dancing inside Salem. Reverend Parris used religion as a weapon to assume to power.

When his niece falls sick, he gets nervous and anxious and fears that his reputation at the community and church will be ruined because of her involvement in conjuring the spirit. He

accuses Proctor his prime opponent of leading a faction against him and is angered by the community for what he terms as their lack of recognition of their obligations towards the church and the ministry. He also reminds the people he is the lord’s minister. He tells them that minister is the man of the Lord in the parish and he should not be contradicted or lightly crossed (Miller, 35).

The belief that witchcraft was real in Salem allowed people with other motives in the name of religion to eradicate the obstacles in achieving their hidden goals and desires. Miller used religion to illustrate how people can manipulate it to achieve their agendas. He also demonstrates that everyone has his or her different opinion of what is religious or not.