In order to maintain social order, society may often attempt to suppress individual's freedoms. The tactic of oppression to create stability is a tactic that has been used throughout history; from the Puritan Salem to the modern United States of America. .
The Puritans of Salem, Massachusetts immediately set up a government and society where discipline, respect, community, and God were the way of society. The Puritans loved tranquility and modesty, and the only way to have this stability in their society was to have laws. The Puritans created laws of every kind but all of the laws had a common parent, the Bible. Every law and restriction of Salem was the offspring of the Bible because the Puritans believed that God should rule the community and if everyone followed God's rules the community would be stable. The people of Salem could not dance or even dawdle with anything less than holy without facing the wrath of the community and the court. The suppression of these diminutive things was supposed to lead to the better of society. .
In the Crucible it is proven that suppression leads to chaos, the absolute antonym of stability. When Betty is caught dancing in the woods the conditioning that society has taught her forces her to react poorly and starts a turbulent cycle of accusations and mass hysteria. If the people of Salem had been allowed a few shame-free freedoms the whole Salem witch trials would have been avoided. Betty and the other girls would not have felt shame and blamed other people for their actions. It is a well known fact the children, as do all humans, have it in their nature to rebel. And no society will ever become unwavering by suppressing people's freedoms, because the acts people commit are not the things that threaten the stability of society it is the thoughts behind those actions that can undermine the stability of society. It was not the girls dancing in the woods that caused mass hysteria among the townspeople it was the belief that they were dancing for Satan that made the townspeople go through a "mad season".
