Salem's Dark Past- Mallory Green 2nd hour

Mallory Green

11/23/15

2nd hour

Salem’s Dark Past

The Salem witch trials 1692-1693, a horrific misunderstood event in history that continues to be misunderstood today. During this terrifying year hundreds of innocent people were jailed, and twenty killed for no valid reason. Today it would not be considered a valid, but back in the seventeenth century witchcraft was very easily justified with spectral evidence. Although the movie The Crucible was very captivating, it failed to add accurate historical details. The film The Crucible, did include multiple aspects of the trials but embellished or changed them for entertainment purposes. Out of the many, two stood out to me. The alterations of character traits, and the dramatization of witchcraft. I was able to uncover both of these false aspects through the reading “The Devil in Salem”.

A large portion of the movie The Crucible included the embellishment of witchcraft in Salem. One of the best examples of the dramatization of witchcraft happened in the first fifteen minutes of the film. In the opening of The Crucible we are greeted with what looks like a classic witch ceremony, lead by Tituba, involved in the ceremony is dancing, sacrifice, and the creation of potions. While it was interesting it was not historically accurate. Although Tituba did perform witchcraft in Salem, her “magic” was not as profound as it was made to be in the movie. According to “The Devil in Salem” (3) Tituba merely read the Salem girls futures, no ceremonies or dancing was ever recorded. If this ceremony had actually happened and Reverend Parris had caught them, the event would have surely be mentioned in the article. Yes, back in early Salem palm reading would've been considered serious witchcraft, but not as severe as being involved in ceremonies. This was the first of the many examples of the severity of the witchcraft performed being dramatized in the film. Another example of witchcraft being exaggerated was during the questioning of Mary Warren. In the middle of Mary Warren being questioned about her connection to the devil. The accusers, lead by Abigail Williams, began to scream in pain claiming that Mary’s spirit was coming upon them. The accusers did use spectral evidence as a tactic to find “witches” guilty, but there is no mention of accusers being present at questionings in “The Devil in Salem”, specifically Mary Warrens. Once again highlighting how the director exaggerated the witchcraft in Salem.

This movie was not only historically inaccurate involving witchcraft, it also included false information about the people of Salem during the witch trials. One character who is an example is John Proctor. In the movie John Proctor is portrayed as a young farmer, with two young sons both from the same wife. The real John Proctor was in his sixties when the trails happened, owned a tavern, and had multiple older children from his two previous marriages. This information can be found in “The Devil in Salem” (. One true characteristic of John proctor was shown in the film, his strong faith. John Proctor did refuse to confess, because he knew it was a lie, and believed it was better to die pure then live as a sinner. Ruth Putman is another character who was falsely portrayed on screen. Firstly her name is incorrect, Ruth Putman is supposed to represent Ann Putman. Ann was her real name, as mentioned in the trial records and “The Devil in Salem” (2), and she was named after her mother. Her name was replaced in the movie to avoid confusion. It is true Ann putman was “bewitched”, but during her convulsions she suffered from physical fits and tantrums according to “The Devil in Salem” (2), not an endless sleep. Again illustrating the false traits of characters being added in the movie.

The Crucible although an entertaining film missed many of the main historical aspects, for example, the witchcraft that took place and the characters. The Crucible is not the only film does not accurately mimic the previous literature it was based on. One of my favorite series The Hunger Games is an example, the novels in the series included important details that were never mentioned in the movie. While these details would have been helpful to have, similiar to The Crucible, the movie was still very enjoyable. The changes that Arthur Miller made to the play, in my opinion, were for the best. He knew what his audience was looking for, love and action, and he eloquently provided with a touch of history. Also, I think everyone in this class can agree that if the movie was historically accurate, it would have been less exciting. We can learn from examining historical fiction. For example, in The Crucible we are able to achieve a better understanding of how unjust the trials were. Acting as a reminder that we should all work together to prevent this from happening again, not turn against each other. We should also frequently reflect on our morals as a society, and speak up when problems arise.