Theme of Social Class in The Crucible Essay Example

To start, the existence of social classes makes it easier for bourgeoisies to suppress the voices of the proletariats, allowing the continuation of the cycle of oppression. For instance, when the justice system realizes the girls’ charade, Parris begs Danforth to postpone Proctor’s, Rebecca’s, and Mary’s execution. Danforth replies, “Mr. Hale, as God have not empowered me like Joshua to stop this sun from rising, so I cannot withhold from them the perfection of their punishment” (Miller 667). Even though this act might lead others to think that maybe Parris has developed a conscience, he is acting out of fear. Near the middle of the play, it is evident that Parris is well aware of the act that Abigail is directing. Parris plays along with this act to implement fear in the minds of people in Salem, while creating more power for himself.  Furthermore, Danforth, as he says in the quotation, explains that he cannot prolong the execution as he claims that his judgment is “perfection.” He claims that God tells him who is guilty. Knowing now that Abigail is the culprit, Danforth feels as though he will lose his power as it is now proven that what he claims is false and that the people of Salem will now know that he killed many innocent lives prior to doing extensive research. He is afraid he will lose his power for believing false accusations. Danforth tries to get Proctor and Rebecca Nurse to confess to a crime they did not commit to prove that his judgment is correct. Danforth wants to silence the truth, to create false consciousness in the people of Salem, as they will think that the justice system is saving them from witchcraft. He believes that this is the only way to maintain his status and power in the village of Salem as if they die or if they confess, the truth will be hidden. Rebecca and Proctor’s morals and values are being questioned through this judgment as lying is considered a sin in their religion. Since Proctor and Rebecca’s truth is silenced by Danforth, who executed them for not confessing to witchcraft, Danforth understands that what he did was right as silencing them did aid in maintaining his power. This incident could be taken as an example of the theory of revolution. The theory of revolution is the notion that the oppressed will rise up and rebel to overthrow their oppressor. In this case, Proctor rebelled against the court only to be executed, which continues the cycle of oppression. Similarly, Abuse of Power mainly focuses on the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat throughout their song. Kaleb Perdue sings, “Flying past my face, it cut the wind and my eyes stung, Whispers trail off, Replaced with mourning, What could we have done?” (Perdue). The bourgeoisie in this song is being referred to as these “eyes staring from the void”(Abuse of Power). The band portrays that when met with these “eyes”, they will get stung. Alluding that, when rebelling against the bourgeoisie, it is likely to be hurt. They also suggest that others will stop rebelling, as after watching one getting hurt from rebelling against the bourgeoisie, they replace confidence with fear of rebelling. Abuse of Power refers to mourning in their song, which can either be portrayed as mourning over a body of the one who rebelled but failed, or over something they cannot achieve as now they are at the mercy of the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie has the power, money and status to silence the proletariat who rebel against them, by either using violence or using their power. This results in the cycle of oppression to continue as Abuse of Power ends this verse off with the question “What could we have done?”, signifying that the proletariats do not have the power to stop the bourgeoisie from treating them unfairly. The band shows through their lyrics that the more one revolts against the ways of the bourgeoisie, the faster they get scorched by the power of the bourgeoisie, leading to a society filled with despair and sadness. To connect the song with the crucible, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat mentioned in the song can be referred to as Danforth and Proctor. The more Proctor is enraged with the unfair judgment of Danforth, Proctor rebels, causing him to lose his life along with Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse. Therefore, the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, causes one to silence those under them in order to keep their power in society, which leads to the downfall of society.