Sidney Wilson

Contemporary American Literature

December 13, 2016
The Crucible
The themes of intolerance and fear are shown not only in " The Crucible " but in modern
day society as well, and this is due to people being different. Fear is an unpleasant emotion
caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
Intolerance is unwillingness to accept views, beliefs, or behavior that differ from one's own.
Throughout history and throughout The Crucible it is easy to see how both intolerance and
fear and shown, due to the views of people in power.
An example of fear and intolerance shown in modern day is the treatment of Muslim and
Arabic people. People who are Arabic may be treated differently because people fear they are
associated with terrorism. Just as the people in the Crucible were treated differently because they
did things out of the norm. People feel that everyone who are not doing things that everyone else
is doing there is something wrong with them. Just as in The Crucible they accused people of
working with the devil because they were different. The people accused did things differently
and the more religious people didnt approve so they were treated differently. They were thrown
in jail and then eventually executed. Today people arent exactly thrown in jail and executed due
to suspicion but they are harassed by people in America, in public places such as malls and
airports.
Hitler killed the jewish during his reign because they were different, he felt that they
werent the perfect human. He feared them as a people and due to this he turned the rest of
germany against the Jewish population. The intolerance lead to the murder and execution of

many just as it did in The Crucible . In the play the judge executed people just as Hitler did.
Multiple other characters act as Hitler as well, from the standpoint of accusing people of
witchcraft which lead to their execution.
In the play the people of Salem were afraid of the devil and witchcraft just as Americans
feared the Japanese during WWII. America had taken all of the Japanese people in the United
States during WWII and put them in camps because they feared they were working with Japan.
America feared Japanese people in the states were plotting horrible things so they were put in
camps to stay. The fear of not knowing made the Americans scared so they felt if they
imprisoned them it would keep the country safe. Just as the people in The Crucible thought
the women were working for the devil, the people of America saw them as working with Japan.
The women accused can be represented as the Japanese people in America, and the devil is
represented as Japan.
Over time people have treated people differently and even executed people due to them
not being the same as them, which causes fear and intolerance. The themes of intolerance and
fear are shown not only in " The Crucible " but in modern day as well, and this is due to people
being different. Throughout history and throughout The Crucible you can see how both
intolerance and fear and shown, due to the views of people in power. .