In the play The Crucible it presented examples of frustration about blatant lies someone tells and everyone else believes. People were accused of being witches and it was easy to point someone else. Despite the fact that most of the conspiracy were frauds, people believed and some were being dragged into the water even though they are innocent. During that time it was easy to accuse others of witchery, everything that was unknown or had limited knowledge was seen as witchcraft. With such a well-weaved society, everyone’s business was known by another. It was so easy to be pushed off the cliff and it was also to push someone else off the cliff. People were living their lives on the edge but the truth was shrouded. That being said, those who hate another could try to get the other into trouble simply by accusing them of witchery. So some characters in The Crucible were frustrated with the lies that someone told and the public believed, they’re fighting for their lives and it’s against something they probably had no interference with. The character Mrs. Putnam lost 7 of her children and is blaming it on witchcraft, not only that but the witchcraft had to be “assigned” to another so she accused others of witchery.

With the theme and situation in The Crucible, it is a perfect comparison with this movie named Man of a Ledge. The same situation in a different society. However the perspectives and thought process of the main characters, in this case, those who were accused, it must have been frustrating and they would play any card to save their lives for something they did not do and were blamed for. In this movie, the cop was put on the line of horrible consequences when he was framed of doing something that another person has done. As a cop, he is there to build justice, except, this time it is between himself and his so-called team. Just like The Crucible, the framing was easy, the other party had to get themselves out of a blunder, so they blamed someone else. Being in a situation like that facing death, the main character in the movie puts his life on the line to save himself. He decides to go on a ledge like in the title, under the enormous pressure with no way out, he thought his life was ending either way. He turned the situation around by putting himself in danger and threatening the police by presenting the idea of bringing their city’s reputation to rock bottom when the public finds out about the truth.

Man on a Ledge
Photo Credit : CHRISTO DRUMMKOPF via  Flickr/SomeRights Reserved

In the movie, the main character took a chance and managed to turn the situation around. He escaped the frame and revealed the shrouded truth to the public. Whereas, in The Crucible, it wasn’t so easy to do that. Though they were put into the same situation, the stakes were different. The society back then was quite dark and it wasn’t so easy to get out of something once you’re in it. At this point in the play, we do not know if the characters would turn the situation around like in the movie, due to the different way that the rules were being run. However, being in a situation like that they’d take any chance to get themselves out of being accused. Witchery was just something that was unknown and some characters like John Proctor are trying to explain things with logic, stating there is no witchery. But it was very religious back then so science wasn’t as powerful as today when it comes to proving a case.