The Role of Gossip in The Crucible free essay sample

Gossip-Catalyst of the Witch Hunt Gossip, or rumors is part of our daily life. It is everywhere and it spreads rapidly. Gossip is different from lying. People don’t mean to tell lies when they gossip. However, gossip either twists and exaggerates the truth, or affects people’s mind and influence their judgement. In the Crucible, in the Salem witch trial, rumors played an important role. They spread like pests and were the catalyst of the witch trial. It was because of the gossip’s ability to twist the truth and affect people’s judgement that caused many innocent people’s death.Sarah Good was one of the first three women who were accused of witchcraft. One of the main evidence that proved her â€Å"guilt† was when she asked for charity and was rejected, she always muttered under her breath. In fact Sarah was probably just complaining, but when people talked about this, the complaining became curses. We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Gossip in The Crucible or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Rumor has the ability to twist or exaggerate the truth. Especially when gossips pass from one person to another, more details and descriptions that might not be true are added. This happened because people wanted to make the stories they told more interesting.However, this may cause a very bad influence sometimes. Another proof is Giles’ words about his wife. He said that his wife was reading a book, and â€Å"it(the book) discomfits me! Last nightmark thisI tried and tried and could not say my prayers. And then she close her book and walks out of the house, and suddenlymark thisI could pray again! †(38) A book can’t have affected one’s ability to pray. Giles was obviously making up his story. It was possible that he could’t focus during the prayer, but he exaggerated it and make people feel that it was because of the book his wife was reading that disturbed him from praying.Giles didn’t mean to tell a lie, but he was not telling the truth either. This gossip put his wife in dangerous situation. On the other hand, gossips influence people’s mind by the conformist mentality. Conformist mentality means that people would do something, or make their decision, because other people around them were doing the same thing or making the same decision. This is based on the fear of being different from others. Mary Warren was one of the girls who were accused of witchcraft. During her trial, Mr. Danforth asked her if she had seen spirits, and she answered, â€Å"II cannot tell how, but I did.II heard the other girls screaming, and you, Your Honor, you seemed to believe them, and IIt were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits, and II promise you, Mr. Danforth, I only thought I saw them but I did not†(100). Apparently the spirits didn’t exist at all; Mary herself knew that too. However, she fainted and her body went cold when she was affected by the behaviors of others. She mentioned the girls were â€Å"screaming,† and the judge seemed to â€Å"believe them,† even the whole world began to cry â€Å"spirits, spirits. All these factors were giving Mary the hint that there were spirits around them. She didn’t want to be different from others because that would make her weird and special, so although she saw no spirits, she acted as if she saw them. Later in the court, when Abigail was accusing John Proctor of witchcraft, â€Å"she and all the girls run to one wall, shielding their eyes† and the girls â€Å"let out a gigantic scream. † What effect did this have on Mary? She, â€Å"as though infected, opens her mouth and screams with them. † This kind of examples are everywhere in our daily life, though they might not be this extreme.The simplest one is that you didn’t plan to go on the movie run, but when you figure out all of your friends were going, you would probably go with them. Usually the conformist mentality does’t cause troubles, but when things turn in the wrong direction, it would drive more and more people in the wrong direction. So it is important not to be influenced by other people’s thought. Always think logically and make your own decision. However, sometimes people can even go further than just agreeing with others’ ideas.They may fabricate facts to satisfy the need of the atmosphere, or the society. For instance, Mrs. Putnam asked Reverend Parris â€Å"Hw high did she(Betty) fly, how high? † When Reverend Parris denied it and claimed â€Å"she never flew,† Mrs. Putnam told him that â€Å"Mr. Collins saw her goin’ over Ingersoll’s barn, and come down light as bird†(12). It is obvious that Betty couldn’t have flown, but people were making up stories of seeing her fly. The reason they were producing rumors like this is that the society, which is the village of Salem in the story, was stuck on hunting witches at that time.People all have the desire to be in the main stream of the society, so they built up the rumors to prove that they were on the side of justice and they were hunting witches as most of the people were doing. According to the evidence above, the important role of gossip in the Salem Witch Trial is of no doubt. The same problem is still happening right now in our daily life. Rumors are enemy of sensibility. Most of them are overstated and unrealistic. So don’t let these words from others fill up your mind. Think logically and use your own judgement.