The Crucible: Pressure

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play which has many people who could and could not withstand the great weight of pressure, therefore giving it an all-appropriate name. A crucible is a vessel that will not melt under intense heat. There are characters in the play who, like a crucible, uphold to the major pressure placed upon them. Giles Corey tells the court about how Putnam forced his daughter to cry witch on Jacob’s so he can get his land. But, when asked who he got this information from, he refused to leak his sources. Another character who acts as a crucible is Abigail Williams. When someone brought out strong evidence against her, she would turn it around back on the judges and would make herself seem innocent without actually admitting that she is a fraud. John Proctor is another example of a crucible. He knows death is the only result of not admitting witchcraft, but his name and his family means more to him than his own life, and he refuses to sign the document expressing John’s false admittance to witchcraft. So, not only are there crucibles in the brave and heroic sense, but also in the evil and conniving.
Giles Corey has previously mentioned how his wife was reading, in the presence of a court member, which was a mistake. This caused Martha Corey to be taken and hanged. So, when he is asked to give up the name of the man who told Giles about Putnam and the girls being frauds, he refuses to tell knowing there will be more deaths involved. The court threatens his life, but he still refuses to snitch. The judges then decide to press him with stones, thinking that under a certain amount of pressure, he’ll give the name of the man. Even under all of that weight and pressure, he refused to tell. “They said he give them but two words. “More weight,” he says. And died (135)”. This shows that even though his life was on the line, he kept his morals and his promises straight ahead and would rather himself die then people die on behalf of him. Giles Corey is a...