Example Of Essay On How Theocracy Is Killing The American Dream

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The “Crucible” is a playwright written by Arthur Miller relating to the occurrences of the 17th century in a place known as Salem in Massachusetts. Having existed in the 20th century, Miller was a witness to the events that jeopardized the so called “American Dream.” Through these experiences, he is able to highlight these events in his book, “The Crucible”, as one of the major themes. As the book depicts, there were real witch hunts in the 17th century whereby early settlers were very intolerant about views that went against their religions. Despite having settled in North America after fleeing Europe for religious persecutions, these religious fanatics were even more unforgiving than their perpetrators (Miller & Blakesley 1992).
Theocracy is a form of governance in which the state and the church are one. This is to mean that God is acknowledged as the supreme civil leader and that the state was governed by the rules as set in the Bible. The “Crucible” is set in a society which is theocratic in nature. The early settlers are referred to as the Puritans and they practice a strict form of religion called Puritanism. As such, state laws and moral laws are intertwined and a matter of public reflection.(Miller & Blakesley 1992). Those people who were against this form of rule were considered a threat to the public, true religion and the rule of the supreme civil leader.
The Puritans fled from England in a bid to establish self-governance away from the set religious rules. They are said to be the starting point of the American Dream in which hard work was believed to result in living one’s dreams, as well as achieving success in this life. According to the Puritans, this was interpreted as strict adherence to both hard work and a set religious behavior. Eventually, this would lead to going to heaven for those who were truly committed (Miller & Blakesley 1992).
The “Crucible” clearly indicates how the Puritans were the cause of the downfall of the American Dream. In a theocratic society that has a dichotomy of how things should be, either God’s way or devil’s way, it was very easy for a simple case of a child acting weird to escalate to a witch trial. Such cases were occurring so often that it proved that one’s commitment to religion or hard work could not exempt them from witch trials.
Puritanism was used and revered in the courts of law and prosecution of witches was considered the function of the law. Hence, the mention of religion can be seen in the witch trials. An example of this is in Act One, “Forgetting the commandments is lawful proof of the devil and being a witch as is not going to church, or not having an unbaptized child.” In Act Three, Danforth sets a clear line of dichotomy when he states, “either with this court or he must be counted against it” (Miller & Blakesley, 1992, pg.3).
The Puritans are considered as hypocrites since they persecute Native Americans for religious differences yet they themselves fled England for the same purpose. They go to such extremes of allowing witch hunts that are aimed at harassing those with divergent views to theirs.
Theocracy is a killer of the American Dream since it opposes any form of individuality in the people it rules over. Those people who adopted a cultural difference are deemed as threats to unity and order and hence are persecuted by the law through falsified accusations. Theocracy does not tolerate individuality or any other order apart from that dictated by them. This in turn creates a myopic view of life, which greatly harbors progress and success.
In the mid 1950’s, a new economic system known as communism emerged. This was a new thing to the American capitalistic government and they sought out the starters of this new movement and prosecuted them. The communists were driven out of influential positions so as to hinder them from changing public opinions. As opposed to the purpose of the American Dream, the motives for such acts were revenge, fear and jealousy. Hence, the Americans are known for ‘witch hunting’ acts to the present date.

Bibliography

Miller, A., & Blakesley, M. 1992. The crucible. Oxford: Heinemann.