The Crucible Persuasive Essay

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Magnet Fofanah
Mrs. Morrison
English 11
November 11, 2013

Crucible Persuasive Essay

How many people in history have sacrificed themselves for their beliefs? How many of those people have seen what they stood for be put into action? Disregarding those who commit suicide to willfully hurt others, sacrificing oneself or risking one’s life for a strong belief is something respectable. Sacrificing oneself shows one’s willingness to stand by their belief through thick and thin. It shows not only the strength of the belief, but the strength of the person also. From Mahatmas Gandhi to Martin Luther King, it is proven that standing for a cause regardless of it’s consequences, could serve as a victory in the long run. Willingly sacrificing one self shows bravery, strong heartedness, and leaves a person with a clear conscience. For someone to die for a belief, anything matter of fact, means that person has to have been someone brave. According to Google definitions, bravery means being ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage. In The Crucible, Rebecca Nurse showed bravery because she didn’t admit to false guilt when she was tried. She held up her innocence all the way up to her execution and told John Proctor “Let you fear nothing! Another judgment awaits us all!” (Miller, 1272) Some might disregard this example because of how dated it is. A more recent example would be a Tibetan Monk

named Dawa Tsering. Tibet used to be part of the mainland China, but now the people of Tibet are under oppression by the Chinese government because of difference in religious beliefs. Tsering is one of the many brave monk who performed self-immolation. No one was able to stop him, nor did he stop himself. Equally important was the story of bravery happened during the Jonestown Massacre. It can be argued that this isn’t a convincing example because the people of Jonestown did sacrifice themselves, even though some did not want to. But the bravery of Congressman Leo J. Ryan cannot be overlooked. Congressman Ryan knew something was off with the religious sect at Jonestown, The People’s Temple, but he still risked his life to find out the truth. Rebecca Nurse, Tsering, and Ryan all have something in common; they were ready to face dangers and pain to uphold their beliefs. Moreover, someone who offers their life has to be someone very strong headed; someone who has a goal, who doesn’t want to give up that goal, and will perform any task to reach it. Referring to the Crucible again, Giles Corey believed that his family deserved the land that he’d work for, that it belonged to them, and deemed it unfair that they give it up because of false accusations from jealous neighbors. As a result, “he did not answer aye or nay…so he stood and died Christian.” (Miller, 1269) Referring back to Tsering, he was strong-headed because he continuously screamed “freedom from China,” as he burned. So even in his last minutes, he stayed grounded to his beliefs and didn’t forget the purpose of what he was doing. Congressman Ryan is also a good example of how those who sacrifice themselves are strong headed people. He knew he’d be facing risks although he wasn’t aware of the level of risks he was taking. He was given a number of conditions for visiting the settlement yet still pushed for the visit. “Ryan responded with a declaration of his intentions to visit the settlement anyway..” Furthermore, when a person upholds his/her belief, it can leave the person with a clearer conscience. Having a clear conscience leads to a peace of mind, which is very important. In fact, The Crucible was widely based on John Proctor finding his peace of mind after feeling guilt for committing lechery. Towards the end, Proctor was going to plead guilty to witchcraft although he knew he wasn’t a witch, in order to stay
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