The main conflict in The Crucible stems from peoples' personal grudges towards another person or group. Some of the main ones are Abigail against Elizabeth Proctor and the Putnams against Rebecca Nurse and other landowners. It's hard to believe that anybody would go to such extremes like killing somebody just for personal gain. Some of them were planning on it from the start, like Abigail, and others realized they too could use the state of hysteria to their advantage, like the Putnams. The only reason people were able to get away with this was because everyone believed whatever the girls said. The judges thought that since witchcraft is only between the witch and the victim, they are the only two who can really testify. The accused witch, of course, will deny it, and the victim can say anything they want.
Many conflicts, like a grudge, start on the personal level whether it's something between groups of friends or between countries. Conflicts on a smaller scale (hopefully) won't involve killing, but wars do. Some countries or groups of people might have ancient rivalries, the reasons forgotten, but those can escalate until both sides are fighting and making the other side, and themselves, suffer. I personally believe that there must be a better way to solve these problems.
Wonderful comparisons of the character's motives from "The Crucible." (: While reading your blog and writing my own last night, a question kept popping into my mind. I'm curious if the things that occurred in "The Crucible" still take place today. Like, are we as vicious and cruel as Abigail? Or have we become more evil than her? I couldn't really get a good grip on the answer to my question because I don't really hear a lot of news on this type of "crime." On the other hand, not hearing about it does not necessarily mean it does not exist. Just an interesting and mind-puzzling thought, I guess.
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