Religion in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible

Because The Crucible is historical fiction, it alludes to many issues of the time, namely, how the people of Salem desired their religious life to fit into the practicalities of daily life in America. Arthur Miller does this both through narration, which is examined in this analysis, and through the words of his characters.

In the opening to The Crucible, Arthur Miller provides some background insight into the Puritan faith, writing that the Puritans believed that their religion was the only right way to salvation. In coming to America, the Puritans wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to spread their belief to more people, eventually reaching out into the world. Miller writes, “They believed, in short, that they held in their steady hands the candle that would light the world. We have inherited this belief, and it has helped and hurt us.” The Puritans were somewhat arrogant people, feeling that their faith was “held in their steady hands,” implying that Puritanism can bring order and stability to anybody who accepts the religion, the light of the candle. They felt that any other religion or philosophy was wrong and wanted to rid the world of these corrupt thoughts. This precedent is paralleled in contemporary American society, seen in the idea that we as a country have the duty to bring the rest of the world to what we believe is the right way to live. Both the Puritans and contemporary Americans want to change the world by infiltrating their beliefs, shoving them in the faces of everybody, whether the other people are open for change or not.

In his exposition following the entrance of Reverend Hale, Miller asserts that the Devil is an essential element of our world because it provides an opposing force to God. The concept of God being good and saving people from the pits of hell can only be complete if the Devil exists and draws people into these pits of hell. Miller writes, “Like Reverend Hale and the others on this stage, we conceive of the Devil as a necessary part of a respectable view of cosmology … It is as impossible for most men to conceive of a morality without sin as of an earth without ‘sky.'” In this comparison, Miller clearly presents his argument that morality would not be difficult to achieve if there was no sin, no opposite, just as the earth would not be as splendid if it was not surrounded by the vast expanse of sky. Because God represents morality, existing for the sole purpose of saving people, there must be an evil to save them from, sin, so therefore, the Devil also exists. Since the Puritan faith was built on the concept of being saved, Reverend Hale and the others must assert that the Devil is present in everyday life and that he tries to prevent people from coming to God. Without the presence of the Devil, people would not need to be saved by God.

Works Cited:
Arthur Miller, The Crucible, 1953
Claudia and Vernon Johnson, Understanding The Crucible: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents , 1998