The theme of wearing masks applies to many stories.
masks that the characters wear are not literal masks but metaphors for .
concealing a person's true nature. In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, .
the main characters struggle to survive through the untimely events that .
preceded the Salem Witch Trials. Their personal desires and vendettas drove them to accuse their neighbors of witchcraft. In the play .
The Crucible, some of the characters wear masks to save themselves and .
ultimately try to fulfill their own personal desires.
Angry at the deaths of her lost seven children, Mrs. Putnam appears to .
wear a mask by trying to find a scapegoat for her misfortunes. When Mrs. .
Putnam's daughter Ruth, becomes sick Mrs. Putnam and her husband go to .
Reverend Parris to seek an explanation of the recent events. Knowing that .
Parris? daughter Betty has the same symptoms as Ruth, Mrs. Putnam .
Immediately concludes that it is the work of witchcraft, which has enslaved .
her child. As she contemplates her failed seven child deliveries of the .
past, she begins to get restless and looks for a scapegoat. Her first target .
is revealed when she speaks of sending Ruth to Parris? slave Tituba only to .
say Tituba knows how to speak to the dead, Mr. Parris (15). Being a sin .
to speak to the dead, Tituba immediately denies anything to do with the .
dead. Tituba is obviously innocent, but everyone around her immediately .
accuses her by the mere babbling of Mrs. Putnam. Cornered and trapped.
Tituba is forced to falsely confess to witchcraft. As she confesses she .
mentions the name.
of Sarah Good and says Aye, sir and Goody Osburn(18). Being the former .
midwifes of.
Mrs. Putnam, Sarah and Goody Osburn were very prone to be accused of .
witchcraft. When Mrs. Putnam hears Tituba's false confession she .
immediately blames the deaths of her seven lost children on the innocent .
midwifes.
A slave with no rights or relevant pretenses, Tituba struggles to survive .