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Have you ever been really mad at someone or jealous of them? Have you ever tried to do something mean to a person to feel better about yourself? Everyone has met at least one person in their life that they didn’t like. Maybe someone did something that angered you and you never got over it, or maybe someone really intimidated you. There can be personal rivalries from school, sports, or even family members. Sometimes these rivalries can cross the line. Someone can get hurt, blamed for something they didn’t do, or even start to affect those around you. Grudges and personal rivalries can cause mass hysteria, which is seen in “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller and the Holocaust.
One of the most important personal rivalries are between Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor in “The Crucible”. Elizabeth Proctor’s husband, John, had committed adultery and had an affair with Abigail Williams. In the beginning of Act I, John tells Abigail, “I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby,” (Miller 23). Abigail becomes very angry because she loves John and wants to be with him, but John loves Elizabeth. As the witch trials begin to rise, Abigail begins to accuse many innocent people of witchcraft. Since she is a young girl and a “saint”, no one questions her for a second and everyone believes her. In Act II, after Mary becomes an official of the court, she informs the Proctors that someone accused Elizabeth of witchcraft, but she will not confess who it was. Elizabeth has a very strong suspicion that it was Abigail who accused her. Elizabeth tells John, “ Spoke or silent, a promise is surely made. And she may dote on it now - I am sure she does - and thinks to kill me, then to take my place,” (Miller 61). Elizabeth thinks that if Abigail accuses her, she will be hanged and then Abigail will take her place as John’s wife. Abigail’s strong grudge against Elizabeth turned into a big dispute and her accusation on Elizabeth made the witch trials more chaotic, causing mass hysteria. Another personal rivalry is between Ann Putnam and Rebecca Nurse. Ann Putnam had lost seven out of eight of her children during childbirth. The only child to survive was Ruth Putnam. Rebecca Nurse has many children and grandchildren, which makes Ann Putnam upset. In the beginning of Act I, many people are surrounded by Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam, who had been dancing in the forest the night before. Rebecca tells everyone to go to God for the cause of the sick girls and blame themselves. This angers the Putnams. Thomas yells at Rebecca about how he only has one child left and she shrivels. Ann Putnam tells Rebecca, “You think it God’s work you should never lose a child, nor grand-child either, and I bury all but one?” (Miller 28). Rebecca can say these things easily because she has many healthy children and grandchildren but the Putnams had lost all but one of their eight children so it’s hard for them to hear what Rebecca Nurse says as Ruth Putnam is sick.
The Holocaust occured between 1941 and 1945 during World War II. Hitler, who was the leader of the Holocaust, despised the Jews. He saw the Jews as a disgusting race and a foreign threat to the Nazi Germans. Hitler believed that all of the Jewish people were the cause of many of Germany’s problems. Hitler decided that the only way to get rid of all of the Jews was to kill all of them. He had many different concentration camps in different parts of Poland where over 6 million innocent children and adults were brutally killed. Many starved to death, poisoned, beaten, and worked as slaves. Millions of innocent lives were taken because of their beliefs. Hitler had so much power and control that neighborhoods flooded with fear and terror because the Jews were afraid to be captured and killed. Hitler’s extreme personal rivalry against the Jewish population had started a mass hysteria by the large spread of fear in many areas of Europe. He had taken over their lives because they weren’t like him and he didn’t like what they believed in.
The rivalries in “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller and The Holocaust, that was ruled by Hitler, had caused mass hysteria. In “The Crucible”, there were many personal rivalries that had led to the Salem witch trials. If there was someone you didn’t like, you could use the witch trials for your advantage by accusing someone, who could easily be hanged. The witch trials created a very easy opportunity to see someone you hate die. Once Abigail Williams started to accuse people, everyone began to accuse many innocent people, creating a mass hysteria which led to hanging and lying. Hitler and the other Nazi Germans’ strong hatred against the Jewish population created the Holocaust that started a mass hysteria. The terrifying fear that the Germans’ spread across the Jew population created chaos and had cost millions of innocent lives of children and adults.
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