The Crucible Katie Grover 2nd hour 

Would you rather read a book about the history of an event or watch the movie based on the event? For me that is an obvious answer, definitely the movie. I say that because I am more of a visual learner, and movies are more interesting to me. That is the case for most people, they enjoy the movies superior. But really movies aren’t always the best choice, because sometimes the events are modified from the actual event that took place. This happened between the movie The Crucible, and the real events of the Salem Witch Trials. Between the two presentations some of the characters ages and personalities were adjusted and so was the setting of the story. Although some of the events were altered the movie is still a strong representation of the Salem Witch Trials.

Throughout the movie The Crucible, many of the scenes were modified from the real event of the trials to the movie.  One event that I noticed was altered was what happened at the gallows. In the “Devil in Salem” they explain how accused witches got to the gallows, where you would be hung if accused. In the article they say that “Her reply was loud enough for all of the crowd on Gallows Hill to hear. You are a liar! I am no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you take away my life God will give you blood to drink!” This quote indicates that on the accuser’s way up the hill to the gallows the accused witch was screaming to try to get her out of event in which she was going to be hung. Many people would be lined up along the hill to watch this event happen.   In The Crucible the accused witches would ride to the gallows on a caged wagon and people would just line up in front of the gallows to watch this humiliation happen.  The event was altered in the movie to add more drama and visual representation to the event.  Another event that was altered between the film and the Salem Witch Trials was the setting for the beginning of the movie. The Crucible starts off with the girls going to the forest to get instructions from the devil.  Abigail and Betty (Parris’ daughter and niece) went too. In addition they were with Parris’ slave, Tituba. In the forest the girls danced and casted spells on each other. Tituba was the main leader of the wacky events that happened in the forest. In the real event of the trials Tituba was palm reading, and telling scary stories in Parris’ kitchen. Additionally Abigail and Betty had hysteria fights in the kitchen, which led them to being accused of witchcraft.  Even though the movie and the Trials both start of at various parts of the story and modify the events differently the overall message of the trials was executed with great quality.

                 Along with the idea of a few of the events adjusted from the movie to the real trials, a few of the ages and personalities of characters were altered too. This happened between the Salem Witch Trials and the movie, The Crucible. In the movie Abigail is older than she is in the Salem Trials. In the real events of the trials she is eleven years old, and in the movie she is played as a seventeen year old. She is played as an older woman to create more drama. From the article “Witches Myth Verse Reality” it states that “Williams was about 11 years old and Proctor, 60. Primary documents suggest no special bond between the two.” This shows that the two didn’t have an affair in the real event of the trials. In the movie they say that Abigail and John Proctor has an affair, but in real like John was sixty and Abigail was eleven so that is not possible.  In addition, in the movie when all of the girls go to the forest and dance it states that Tituba was dancing with the girls in the forest casting spells.  Tituba was charged for casting spells in the movie, based on her actions.  In the event of the Salem Witch Trials, Tituba was telling the girls scary stories and palm reading in the kitchen. This event led to the naming of the first witch, Tituba.  From the article “Devil in Salem” it states that “Tituba’s fortune-telling began with palm reading and continued with involved, mysterious machinations by which the girls supposedly could divine the occupation of their future husbands…”. This quote is saying that in the real events of the trials that Tituba was doing her wacky actions in the kitchen and not in the forest, as shows in the movie. Another detail that was changed from the action of the trials to the movie was the trial for John Proctor. In the movie Abigail and Mary Warren were against each for the trial of John Proctor, but in real life Abigail and Mary were both on the same side. They both wanted to get John Proctor accused of being a witch, which eventually happened because he had a trial.  Shortly after John was hung for being a witch. Lastly, a very brief event that happened in the movie was the death of Giles Corey. In the article “Devin in Salem” it says that “He moaned, but said not a word. It took Giles Corey two terrible days to die”. In the movie it shows him dying after about five minutes of getting pressed on.  It also shows the accusers asking Corey questions and him not answering, just like what happened in the reading “The Devil and Salem”. The event of Giles Corey was slightly modified from the trials to the film, The crucible. Some of the characteristic changes and adjustments in the movie were done on purpose.  The director Nicholas Hytner did these changed for a dramatic reason in the movie.

                After watching the movie The Crucible and reading “Devil in Salem” I realized that they are closely related, but show us the events in different ways. Even though some of the events were modified the movie and the real events match up very closely.  Some events that are historical incorrect is the age of Abigail, setting of the beginning of the story, and the death of Giles Corey.  The events in this movie also relate to another event in history. The Holocaust was an event where Jews were persecuted for their religion, and that is a relation to the Salem Witch Trials. In the Holocaust Jews were most likely killed or worked for the Germans and in the Salem Witch Trials woman and children were most likely accused of being witches. In both of these events a group is persecuted for their beliefs and actions. I would recommend this movie to anyone who is struggling to understand the Salem Witch Trials because it is a very good presentation of the trials and explains a lot. This movie helped me to understand the trials and get a visual picture in my heard of what this event would look like. I really enjoyed this movie!