Crucible act 1

I think that this book reflects the Puritan religion by they way they act towards other people and the way they behave in general. There are several times in the first act that I can find when the characters do not act snobby or stuck-up to one another. In the beginning of the book Parris is behaving with an heir that seems to say no matter what you think you are wrong. It is not only Parris that behaves this way, but it seems as all of the characters act this way towards each other. The adults act superior to the children, as they should have in that time and according to their religion, but they also act as if they better than each other. According to their religion, everyone was already predestined to go to Heaven or Hell, but the people who were destined to go to hell could still lead the best life possible so they might be let into heaven. For the Saved it was possible for them to lose their salvation if they did not live in a manor that was pleasing to God. No one knew who was saved and who was not so everyone lived the best life that they could. It is funny to me however that they do not seem to care about that when it comes to saving their own face. They will do whatever they can to make sure that the blame does not fall on them. As long as nothing is blamed on them, they will be okay. Yet in all of this blaming there still seems to be a reliance on God. Parris says, “Oh, my God. My God help me!(Miller 8)” So in spite of all the concern Parris has for making sure that he does not get blamed for having witchcraft in his house he still has some apparent reverence for God.

Throughout the first act the girls a blaming each other for the practice of witchcraft that had been going on. Abigail says, “Not I, sir-Tituba and Ruth. (Miller 16)” Once again someone is blaming someone else for the witchcraft incident. It is funny that when the blaming happens the person getting blamed is usually not present to defend themselves. I think it is very much like that of the Puritan religion to blame someone else to make sure that you are being the best that you can be to try and make it to heaven. I think this is a breakdown in the Puritan religion. The girls are trying to do what they consider is the right thing by making sure they are not blamed for the witchcraft, but they are still sinning by blaming someone else and lying to make sure they save face. They are trying to contact the spirit world, which is a big no-no in almost every religion. It is treated that way by the characters in the play, but it obviously was not made impossible to access or to know how to contact the spirits. And there did not seem to be the respectful fear of spirits that should have been instilled in the children by their parents.