The Form of Cancel Culture in Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible'

The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts, a play by Arthur Miller, detailed the stories of the residents of Salem, Massachusetts, during the time of the Salem witch trials. There were many causes of the witch trials, the bulk of Salem's residents being Puritans, jealousy, and family feuds being just a few. The most important of those causes being that Salem’s residents all thought the same, never going against the norm. In America, the idea of accepting what others say without thinking for yourself has been the societal norm since the growth of mainstream media. Listen to what the media says and never question it; that is what many Americans do. Disregarding one's own thoughts and instead blindly following what the majority says is the dangerous concept of Groupthink. Groupthink was the enabler of the witch trials; the residents of Salem did not think independently of their hive mind; this meant that outside motives could control the outcome through the manipulation of what the group thought. Groupthink is still alive and well in modern-day America, in the form of cancel culture and the mindless consumption of media.

Groupthink, usually a subtle dissolving of society, has become a career-ruining subject in American society and had even turned fatal during the Salem witch trials. When ulterior motives, in the form of a family feud and intense jealousy, entered the group, it acted like rot, causing the breakdown of life and the decay of structure. In modern-day, this rot is shown in the practice of cancel culture, the act of ruining a person’s career because of something they’re proven or rumored to have said or done. In The Crucible this rot was born of John Proctor's post-affair rejection of Abigail Williams, his former servant. Abigail grew a bitter jealousy towards Elizabeth, the wife of John. She lied out of jealousy, yet when the obvious faults are pointed out by John, the court declined to accept them. Spurred by lies and religious fervor, the group had decided that those accusing others of witchcraft were undoubtedly truthful. Judge Danforth, when starting to question the truthfulness of Abigail, says: Abigail realizing that her hold over the court was waning, responded by faking being bewitched. This action made Judge Danforth, and the group as a whole, again trusting of Abigail. Those that speak out against the absurdity of such statements are either silenced or tricked into denying their own thoughts. This blind trust is still shown in modern America and is what makes the existence of groupthink a dangerous thing for society.

During the Salem witch trials, people could effortlessly enact selfish desires and plans through the act of poisoning the thoughts of the group. Lies, tricks, fake evidence, stories, and unprovable statements could manipulate the belief of the people with ease. In the aftermath of the Salem witch trials, American society has only become more prone to groupthink. Groupthink is a very volatile phenomenon and, in the years following the Salem witch trials, has only grown in size and range. Like the courts trusting Abigail, modern-day American society is too quick to trust the words of the few. Cancel culture is the example of groupthink with the most resemblance to that in Salem; adopting the thoughts of a few, and choosing the fate of a person, occasionally ruining the lives of innocent people. Groupthink is still pervasive in, not only America, but the whole world.