Blind Conformity In The Crucible Essay, Research Paper

Crucible Essay – Blind Conformity

Blind conformity to mass thought is an issue that greatly affected the events of the Salem Witch Trials in The Crucible. The tendency of the townspeople to conform blindly may have come from their religion. Puritanism did not encourage individuality, and anyone who was “different” was looked down upon. Also, the fear of the devil was blinding, and no one wanted to risk having an “evil” or “unholy” person in the town. With this in mind, the validity of the entire witch trials comes into question. Many cases of this can be found throughout Miller’s play. For example, once someone of important standing, like Hale, started to believe that the girls might be witches, the entire town began to believe and chaos broke loose. Also, Abagail used her position of leadership amongst the accused witches to make them follow her lead. Once Abagail started to name names in court, the others followed close behind. Many cases of blind conformity are still obvious today.

Blind conformity is something that can be seen in all facets of life, and is almost unavoidable. I, personally, conform blindly without thinking all the time. For example, when I’m getting dressed in the morning I sometimes catch myself wondering if the outfit I picked out will be “cool enough”, subconsciously trying to fit in. Another, more important, example is the problem of drinking and drug use with high school-aged kids. Most kids just want to fit in and will do whatever is considered cool to feel like they are “normal”, even if they hate the taste of beer. This type of blind conformity is not usually life threatening, but when it is taken to the level it was in Salem, it can be very deadly. That is a prime example of why we must think before we act and be skeptical of certain situations, or else a tragedy like the witch trials could easily happen again.