Topic > Literature and Freedom of Power in The... by Arthur Miller

Although in Salem, mother, the Bible is the only book to read since the others are forbidden. When a pair of teenage girls accuse others of witchcraft to save themselves, Reverend Hale arrives to help determine the culprits. Through this process Giles reveals that he woke up to find his wife Martha "in the corner, reading a book" (Miller 40). Readers may say that it was wrong of him to mention such a thing, because if you were able to read anything besides the Bible, then you were said to be taking part in witchcraft. Since the city revolved around the Bible and its teachings, anyone who did not attend church was seen as an outsider and a witch. Theology is what rules in this village, if someone is not satisfied with the laws and teaching then he is known as one with the devil. "Let there be no love for Satan" (67), this is all that is taught in the village. Fearing the devil and hell is all that is engraved in their heads. In Fahrenheit 451 it talks about how all types of literature are banned. Even though the government allows citizens to watch television because they are able to control and monitor what is put in front of people. The authorities banned books to gain more knowledge of their citizens. Like Stalin, the government Montag lives under censors what it doesn't want others to know. In The Crucible, the town of Salem, allowed its people to read but with a twist, as only the Bible was allowed. By going against what the Bible teaches, you are seen as one who is not with