After finishing "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, I was left wondering, "Why is it called 'The Crucible.' I never saw anything about a crucible in the book." So, I did a little research on dictionary.com. I found out that a crucible is a container made of a refractory metal that is used to heat substances to high temperatures or to purify a substance. It can also mean a severe searching, test, or trial.
I came up with a few different explanations for the title. A crucible is extremely hot when it gets heated so you don't want to touch it or be inside it. Salem turned into a giant crucible. No one wanted to be there because everyone was getting burned (hanged). Abigail got away before she was burned but it didn't end as well for John Proctor or some of the other townspeople.
Another reason for the title is that the witch trials were meant to purify Salem, just as crucibles are meant to purify metals. The witch trials started because people thought their neighbors were doing witchcraft. They wanted to cleanse their town of the evil people. Crucibles were invented to get the impurities out of the metal. The only difference is crucibles work and the witch trails failed horribly.
My last reason for the title, "The Crucible," is that is was a test of John Proctor. He was tested to see if his faith in God would waver. He was also tested to see if he would lie and stop standing for what he believed in. He passed the test. He almost signed the confession but he realized that it would tarnish his good reputation. At the very end, his morals were more important than living.
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I wondered why it was titled "The Crucible" as well. This is a good explanation for it. I agree with everything stated here, but I think that another reason John Proctor didn't sign the confession was to save the other accused. If he signed it, his name would be posted as guilty, ruining his clean name and the names of all the other innocent people. He didn't want to save himself only to condemn many others. Not signing the confession was his way of redeeming himself from past sins.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your second point. The witch trials were used to purify the town of the "evil" people. Although, those who hanged were innocent, I do believe that the witch trials rid Salem of its "evil", because as you said Abigail got away. And in my opinion, Abigail was the only evil in the town.
ReplyDeleteMr. Johnson the same thought plagued me after reading the book, after not encountering a tool used in chemistry within the plot. After thinking about it for a while, I came to the same conclusions that you did. Salem was placed in a giant crucible, and it is unfortunate who held the flame and who was distinguished as the pure metal and as the impurities, Whoever came out of the crucible was incorrectly identified as the precious metal, as noble individuals like John Proctor and Giles Corey were the true gold and silver of Salem.
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