The Crucible
(Arthur Miller)
Holden looks for some degree of understanding and acceptance from all the characters he encounters, even taxi drivers, but he is denied his needs. As a result, Holden feels dislocated, as though he does not belong anywhere, and he is right. It becomes obvious through his encounters that he is in an entirely different orbit than the rest of the world. Each time Holden extends himself, he is rewarded with rejection, until he is finally driven to almost a schizophrenic state. With his mental health deteriorating, Holden returns to his parents? home, where things are no better for him. Even his young sister, Phoebe, questions his negativism and asks him to name one thing he would like to be. Holden replies that he would like to be "the catcher in the rye" and explains that his job would be to prevent the children, who are playing nearby in a field of rye, from going over the cliff. More distressed than ever, Holden goes to see Mr. Antolini, his former English teacher. When the teacher makes sexual advances, Holden flees in horror. Returning home, Holden experiences a complete mental breakdown and is sent to a psychiatric center in California for treatment.
act III shows the attempts by Proctor and other citizens to oppose the court and the opposition they face by those with vested interest in the proceedings. Giles Corey and Francis Nurse denounce the trials and are subsequently arrested. Proctor admits to committing adultery with Abigail but is not believed.
Abigail, by pretending that Mary is "sending her spirit out" to attack her, induces Mary, who has been supporting Proctor, to abandon her testimony and accuse him to protect herself. Proctor is arrested, and Hale quits the court in disgust.
The final act focuses on Proctor's dilemma whether to live or accept death. He signs a confession, but, when he realizes that it will be used against his fellow accused, he tears it up. On a personal level, this act recovers his sense of goodness. In a larger sense, his act represents the tragic sacrifice of good as the only means to bring harmony back to a society gone awry.
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