Lies in the Fire

To imagine the courtroom as a crucible as the name of Miller’s work suggests is to imply various connotations upon the court itself. Most literally it can be seen as a vessel in which all things melt and burn away, just as Danforth states in Act Three: “We burn a hot fire here; it melts down all concealment” (89). However, as we observed, concealment is not the only thing melted away. The truths which combat them also have a tendency to disappear as well. This was painfully evident as Mary Warren dramatically broke under both the spectacle that Abigail and here cohort contrived and the threatening words of Danforth. With the words “You’re the Devil’s man!” (118) Proctor was transformed from the voice of reason and truth to that of guilt and treachery.

Yet, not all truths burn in the crucible. Proctor was one of the few who chose death rather than submission to the court. He demonstrates an unrecognizable situation in which the act of confession and the value of truth are warped under baseless accusation. His act of confession to adultery was made in order to give weight to the greater truth he was trying to prove. However his punishment is not even for the crime he committed but for one he is falsely accused. As William Wiegand explains, “he dies gratuitously, bravely perhaps, but rather like the soldier on the battlefield who will not turn and run despite the fact he finds himself in a world he never made” (305).

Proctor’s “world he never made” was a result of the authority which ruled. One of the truths that this play shows (which is also applicable to those persecuted during the Red Scare) is that there is no proven way to fight against overwhelming authority. Even if one does not choose to recognize this authority, as Proctor did with Mr. Parris and many others did during various HUAC proceedings, the punishment which they can impose still exists. Richard Rovere highlights this truth as a product of an “orderly society.” One in which we forfeit “the protection of the law whenever we decide that a particular authority is unworthy of our cooperation” (322). The heat from the crucible has the capacity to burn us all, even those who don’t recognize the fire.