The Crucible Forum

discuss reasons that brought about the mass hysteria in salem. in what ways was puritan society responsible for abigails evil?

Puritan society was very much black-and-white.  Total good or total evil.  So when the teenaged girls experimented with conjuring spirits, they were totally evil and deserving of execution. 

Had the Puritans of Salem taken a more "Let's look at the individual situation" in their approach, then Abigail and the other girls wouldn't have felt the need to carry on with their ridiculous lie just to save their lives.  In addition, the lie brought power to Abigail, and she ran with it!

Today, "zero tolerance" policies in schools result in kids' being expelled for accidentally leaving a box cutter from work in their car or carrying a tiny pocket knife.  Schools are so afraid of firearms that an avid hunter cannot bring his shotgun barrel to school to demonstrate to his class how to clean it properly. 

Also, Puritans bought into the whole witchcraft idea.  They believed that demons could inhabit people and make them do terrible things.  Today people recognize the existence of evil and of some spirits but do not attribute every bad choice to the influence of Satan on a person's soul.

Hey. I see you know a few things about the Crucible, so I'm kind of asking for help... I usually don't ask for help unless I REALLY need it, and with the end of the Crucible, and with these questions I have to answer, I just don't get it. So if you reply before tomorrow (hopefully) I'll really appreciate it. Thnx.