The Crucible Act Four

While reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller, I noticed many similarities between this piece of literature and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards. Most of these ideas seem to come from the shared beliefs in the wrath of God that the Puritans in The Crucible and Jonathan Edwards has in his sermon, and that the final judgement lies with God.

I noticed while reading The Crucible and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God a similarity in how the Puritans perceive God as full of wrath and very vengeful. In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God the speaker Edwards says, "God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to the those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell..." (Edwards 97). Edwards is pretty much saying that everything you do wrong is making God angry, and every new sin adds to this fury. It also means that if you are sinning, in God's eyes you are not any better than the people already in hell. In The Crucible it is clear that many of the characters believe this like Reverend Hale. At the end of the story he realizes his mistake in supporting the witch hysteria in Salem and knows that many of the condemned are innocent (Miller 132). The reverend can be seen blaming himself for the death of many of the "witches" while he pleads to Danforth to postpone the hangings. He says to Danforth, "There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!!" (Miller 131). Hale may believe that God may punish him for his help in the murder of innocent people and that his involvement is making God angry.

Besides the vision of an angry God, both The Crucible and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God also share the same idea of the final judgement in life to rest with God. In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God this idea is represented when Edwards says, "And they have nothing in the least, to appease or abate this anger, neither is God in the least bound to by any promise to hold them up one moment." (Edwards 97). This means that God does not care for you, but will only give punishment to you that he finds suit you after being judged. It also means that God has no obligation to keep you from Hell if he thinks it is right. The idea of God's judgement can also be seen in The Crucible when John is asking Elizabeth whether she thinks that he should confess and save himself (Miller 135). Every time he asks Elizabeth responds, "I am not your judge, I cannot be." (Miller 138). Elizabeth means that John has to make his choice by himself because at the end of the day it is not she who will judge him, but God.

In conclusion, there are similarities between the ideas of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and The Crucible. Both of these pieces of literature contain ideas on the wrath of God and the judgement of God. Between the similarities of these two pieces the reader is able to perceive important religious ideas of the Puritans.

Bibliography: Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.

Edwards, Jonathan. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Glencoe American Literature. N.p.: McGraw Hill, 2009. 97-99. Print.