A Call for Realism and Contextual Understanding

I often think that students and teachers alike view The Crucible as boring.  I think that we are too often desensitized to the reality of the situation that took place in Salem.  This is particularly brought about by use of the 1996 film version because even I find it hilarious to see a bunch of meddling girls pretend  that they see the devil.  This is not to say that the film is useless because I think it proves to be very effective for many struggling readers.  I think that we often forget to keep stock in the reality of the situation.  People truly died as a result of the obscure trials, and other than the created affair between Abigail and Procter for purposes of plot, Miller's story has proven to be quite historically accurate.  I think making the situation contextually real for the students may prove even more helpful for comprehension than the film.  Students should be attuned to Puritan life: the social rankings of town and the importance of keeping one's name, followed by the assigned seating in church or the meeting house, as well the differences in the practice and implications of the law (such as the different take on adultery which brings new meaning to the ensued conflict between John, Elizabeth, and Abigail).  This contextual stuff can be found all over the place and I think that most teachers are familiar with such sources.  On the other hand, I do believe that many teachers could benefit from jumping from 1692 to the modern world in order to help students establish personal connections to the writing.  For practical examples one only needs to look to places where good people have similarly done horrible things.  Below are some examples which are typically used as demonstrations in social psychology, but they directly connect to the happenings of The Crucible.

Websites about the 1692 Salem Witchcraft Trials:

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SALEM.htm

http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/

http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com/enquirer/witch.htm

http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/salem/

This is a website on the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Philip Zambardo; you can also purchase the DVD recording and analysis of the experiment. 

http://www.prisonexp.org/

A Times article demonstrating the devastating power of groupthink, even rocket scientists get caught up in these type of shams:

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2003/Smart-People-Dumber9mar03.htm

Miller's work does a fine job of putting the town of Salem under a microscope, revealing the power of groupthink and entropy unfolded in he trials.  By revealing the foibles of Salem, Miller turns his story to the story of a nation engulfed by the events of the Red Scare.  Even though the content of the work may be challenging enough when standing alone, I think that incorporating Miller's critique of McCarthyism is a crucial part of understanding both the story and human nature.  This connection opens up multiple avenues for understanding, and I think that this work could be best most effectively explored through the use of an integrated unit, where the history buffs combine efforts with the bookworms and offer a meaningful connect of information.  Below are a few websites which may help English teachers better understand the nature of McCarthyism.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/mccarthyism.html

http://www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/dl/McCarthy/Mccarthydocuments.html