Reel Witches: Fact or Fiction -- Kathryn Dave

Reel Witches: Fact or Fiction?

“God is dead. God is dead in Salem!” (The Crucible, 1996) God was actually dead in the overly-religious town of Salem. Driven by madness and fear of the unknown, the people of Salem lashed out, blaming witches and hanging people who denied the accusations of witchcraft. The movie The Crucible showed the real events of the Salem Witch Trials. This movie was a window into the trials, the executions of accused witches, and the personal life of the townspeople. Well, these portrayals weren’t completely accurate. Numerous things were dramatized so that the events could be turned into a play, and then a movie.

One thing that contrasted the true history of Salem right off the bat was the relationship between the two main characters John Proctor and Abigail. In the movie, these two had a secret adulterous fling for a while.  Abigail hated John’s wife and wanted John to leave his wife to run away with her. So, she accuses Elizabeth Proctor of bewitching her. The true people back in the 1600s were likely to not have had an affair because Abigail wasn’t seventeen-years-old. She was eleven-years-old, and John was in his sixties. John wasn’t a farmer either, he was a tavern keeper. His role was probably changed so he’d seem like a hard worker and more proper. Moreover, the afflicted wasn’t just a group of girls. The afflicted were men, women, and children.

Another significant thing that was different from the real events were the executions. First, Giles Corey wasn’t executed because he refused to give the name of the man whoaccused Putnam. He was executed for not confessing he did witchcraft. In the movie, he was pressed to death, which is true. It took him two days to die during the trials. Second, the last scene in the movie had three characters; Rebecca Nurse, John Proctor, and Martha Corey; lined up on the gallows together. Rebecca started reciting the Lord’s Prayer. The other two joined in. They were all pushed before they could finish. Actually, these three were not hanged together. They were hanged on different days. They also hadn’t said the prayer, it was a different person who had. Lastly, they wouldn’t have been executed while praying because a person was allowed their last words and prayers. The trials did not end because people refused to confess. They ended because of Governor Phips and people would confess to save their lives.

When examining any historical fiction, you must take it with a grain of salt. Not everything is true. It is understandable that characters were changed or removed to make the film better. Some things are changed to add emotion, like the three on the gallows praying, or to add drama, like the impossible affair. The writers and directors took a lot of poetic license to make it more appropriate for viewers of the time. They didn’t accurately portray the atrocities that people suffered. They glossed over the torture these people were put through. If the afflicted was the original mixed group, the movie would have a different outcome.