Mass Hysteria in the Present by Gretchen Torres

The Central Park 5

gtorresEMCT — 2021-09-16 13:03:56 UTC

In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem were convicted of attacking a white female jogger in New York City’s Central Park. After intense police interrogation and heavy pressure from the enraged public for a conviction, these five teenagers confessed to a crime that they didn’t commit. They were sent to prison, only to be exonerated in 2002 after serving more than a decade of prison time, when the real rapist was discovered.

Read the following New York Times editorial titled “When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers” by Brent Staples.

Compare the details provided in the editorial with what happened in The Crucible. Find direct quotes from the editorial that correspond with the events that transpired in The Crucible.

When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teens

neptunealexandre654 — 2021-09-21 13:01:35 UTC

One day on 1989 five teenagers, black and Hispanic, were accused of beating and raping a young white woman, jogging in Central Park. These teenagers were not guilty of this act, but they were still made confess on a crime they didn't commit, as the article says "The five teenagers, aged 14 to 16, were convicted — based on confessions they say were coerced" this was all by the promise they could go home after it, just like the judge in The Crucible that let people live if they confessed of being witches. The result is that they were convicted, with no real evidence, for 13 years until the real rapist was found. This can be compared to The Crucible because mass hysteria was caused by Abigail accusing a lot of people of being witches with no evidence. Innocent people were made confess in both the crucible and this real story, and this was with no evidence as Staples wrote "there was no physical evidence to tie the five teenagers to the very bloody crime scene" just like in the crucible there was never evidence on good people being witches. This goes to show that when there's mass hysteria common sense and justice is thrown out the window. Sadly this will keep happening in the future, because it's human nature.

When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teens

lionelrodorti — 2021-09-21 13:18:35 UTC

The 5 teens were falsely accused in 1989 but that was unknown until 2002 that the police found the real rapist and he confessed that he did it alone. The 5 Teens say that no matter how much money they give to them the time that they lost will not come back. This problem can be compared to the crucible because its almost the same thing that happend. In the crucible theres people confessing to things that they didnt do just to be alive and not die because they were witches. An example here was some of the characters that havent been named they confesse that they are a witch just to tell the people that they are done with being a witch and will follow god. They did all of this just to be left alive because if they didnt do it they were going to get hanged or burned alive. The crucible is the same thing as the hysteria because they both confessed even though they did nothing wrong just to be free or left alive. The police promised that if the 5 teens confessed they will get to their home and they will be left alone but that didnt happend. Thats why these 2 things have in common and relate to each other.

Mass Hysteria on Central Park

bois07370 — 2021-09-21 13:20:05 UTC

The comparison between this case of the five teenagers and The Crucible are that they accused being innocent. Even though they were kids they got judged as an adult. In the Editorial clearly says "The five teenagers, aged 14 to 16, were convicted—based on confessions they say were coerced—in what former Mayor Ed Koch describe sin the film as“ the crime of the century." This telling us that police to look good towards gthe people demands they did accused innocent people to keep their honor.

When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers-Xilena Camacho

xilenacamachotorres — 2021-09-21 13:21:53 UTC

The editorial by Brent Staples talks about 5 teenagers who were sentenced for a crime they didn’t commit. This can be compared to The Crucible because many innocent people were being accused of witchcraft. In the article, it says “Never mind the absence of physical evidence, or the timeline analysis suggesting that the group was probably elsewhere in the park when the attack on the jogger took place.” Meaning that the police didn’t investigate and took enough proof to have a real allegation toward the group and only charged them because they were black and Hispanic. It also says “The complaint further asserts that the boys were told that they could go home if they provided statements placing themselves at the scene and incriminating others.” This line can be similar to what happened on the play because John Proctor had to sign a document on which he admitted to “have done” witchcraft and he also needed to say who or who didn’t commit those actions.

A Parallel to be Drawn: "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller and the Central Park Jogger Case

userjtp — 2021-09-21 13:25:54 UTC

How can you know when you're in a situation of public frenzy? Hindsight never fails to be 20/20, and it's always so obvious when reading about stories where the public loses its collective mind that it's all just a misguided fear. However, the fact of the matter is that when prejudice and ignorance meet fear, it doesn't matter what the voice of reason in for most people.

After a testimony by Elia Kazan in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952, 20th-century essayist and American theater playwright Arthur Miller traveled to Salem, Massachusetts, to research the witch trials of 1692. This research, along with Miller's prosecution during the Second Red Scare of the 1940s through the 1950s, inspired him to write the play of The Crucible.

In The Crucible, a mass hysteria based on the stern religious culture against witches leads to many falsely accused, prosecuted and executed. However, one has to stand in awe over the absurdness of the mindless behavior of the characters in this fictional piece being seen relatively recently with the persecution of the Central Park Five in the spring of 1989.

George Carlin, on the topic of rights and the Internment of Japanese Americans, said: "Just when these American citizens needed their rights the most...their government took them away. And rights aren't rights if someone can take 'em away. They're priveledges." Such is the case of the Central Park Jogger Case.

A new documentary examines the case of the Central Park Five, who were wrongly convicted in a 1989 🤬 case. The film offers a disturbing depiction of the forces that led to wrongful convictions. Former Mayor Ed Koch had called it "the crime of the century", before the convictions overturned in 2002, after a serial rapist and murderer admitted his crime at which point the five men had already served their youths as their sentence.

Rodny Plaza

2021-09-21 13:48:00 UTC

Central Park 5

2021-09-21 14:20:57 UTC

The Central Park 5 and the Crucible are actually something “close” because both of them in some point they got to a mass hysteria in the story like what happened in the Central Park 5 they got scare and confessed by something that they didn’t do but they wanted to be out of the problem since they were accused so much they got tired and surrendered going to jail for nothing they did. Not exactly like the Crucible but they hang people for not telling them or saying that they do “witchcraft” that’s something pretty bad but if u said that u do “witchcraft” they expelled you from the town and you cannot live there more or you are going to get killed. Getting killed it’s the way of the Crucible to said that they are getting finally free of the mass hysteria and in the Central Park 5 the only way out for them was jail so they just accepted something so they can be “normal” and not having to be going to court a lot of times and all of that. John proctor it’s like the guy from the 5 that admitted they did it but alone he kinda represents that guy because he have the bravery to said that knowing they were going to get punished after all. The moment when they presented evidence telling that they were innocents and they ignore it was when they Giles Corey brings the card signed by people saying that Elizabeth Proctor is innocent and the moment when they accused Putnam from being accusing and they ask who was the one accusing him of that since they didn’t tell who it was they punished them by hanging them and Putnam killing and gaining more wealth since they are a lot of more space he can buy cheap since they are “hunted” by the souls of the users of “witchcraft”.

The crucible and the Central Park five

hdiaz17 — 2021-09-21 14:32:42 UTC

In both the crucible and the central park 5 we can see how Unjust the law can be sometimes. In the crucible people that were accused were completely innocent of witchcraft but the pressure and fear of thinking that if they dint confessed, they could get killed forced them to admit something they dint do. In the central park 5 case we can see the same thing happening, the boys were completely innocent and not guilty of any of the horrible accusations they were given to. It dints matter how many times the boys said they were not guilty the “law” found a way to make them confess as guilty. Why in both cases the persons accused confessed as guilty? Well, they were forced to because of the hysteria cause by the people and fear of knowing that if they did not confess and were found guilty, they would probably die. In the crucible some characters refused to confess about something they dint do and were unfairly killed. In the central park 5 case the boys were told that they could have gone home if they provided statements incriminating others and putting themselves in the case and this is something that we also saw in the crucible when they asked john proctor to say what other people were doing witchcraft, but he refused to. On the boy case they were put in jail about 5 to 13 years But they were later found innocent in 2002. One of the boys Korey wise said a really impactful quote “You can forgive but you won’t forget. You won’t forget what you done lost. No money could bring that time back. No money could bring the life that was missing or the time that was taken away.” Is sad how being wrongly accused can take your life away

Central Park 5- Andrés

andresgoldenpr — 2021-09-21 14:33:36 UTC

In 1959, 5 teenagers were wrongfully accused of 🤬: Kharey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana. This events happend during a very tense time in NYPD history. This put pressure in them to caught whoever was guilty. The case of the white female jogger being raped ended with the police accusing 5 suspects who had basically no relations to the case. The interrogators forced them to confess with different manipulation tactics. Even though they were innocent, they made up a story to please the police and were sentence to jail. This act of blaming innocent people can be seen also in The Crucible.

"By the time the videotaped confessions were taken, the defendants, their lawyers say, had endured lengthy interrogations
and been subjected to coercive and deceptive interrogation techniques, including force and trickery, sleep deprivation and
isolation from their families. " The way in wich they were pressured to confess, even though they didn't do anything wrong, resembles how in The Crucible some people confessed to save themselves.

"Never mind the absence of physical evidence, or the timeline analysis suggesting that the
group was probably elsewhere in the park when the attack on the jogger took place."
This shows that some people don't want to change their mind or look at the full picture. In The Crucible, just like this case, people had grudges and accused or didn't want to change their mind to stick with their belief or intent. The judges and Parris didn't want to change what they started ecen though the evidence was there.

When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers

arivera172 — 2021-09-21 14:36:57 UTC

In this incident, 5 kids are accused for something they never did. This can be compared to The Crucible by the fact that they were also accusing people seemingly at random. "The case of the five black and Hispanic teenagers who were wrongly convicted in the beating and 🤬 of a young, white jogger in Central Park in the spring of 1989." One other point that links these two stories together is the fact that the boys were being accused, while the evidence was not supportive of this claim, and the evidence was pointing to someone else. "Noting that his DNA had been found at the scene and that there was no physical evidence to tie the five teenagers to the very bloody crime scene." In both these stories we see this happening. Although their punishments were, thankfully, not as severe as those in The Crucible, they still had to owe up to the crime as if they committed it. "The five should never have been indicted at all. But by that time, Kharey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana had completed their sentences and been robbed of their young lives. " Another comparison is the way the excecutives of this investigation knew that the evidence was pointing towards someone else, but nonetheless, they shoved it under the rug, because they had already expressed how the 5 boys were the ones who committed the crime. "Never mind the absence of physical evidence, or the timeline analysis suggesting that the group was probably elsewhere in the park when the attack on the jogger took place. Or confessions described in the district attorney's investigation as differing from one another on the specific details of virtually every major aspect of the crime. " If they changed their accusations last moment, they would have been seen as frauds for blaming other people as the perpertrators of this crime. We can link this to the Court Comitte in the crucible, Judge Danforth would silence anyone that tried to deflect information back at them. He knew to some degree that all of this hysteria was fraud, but they had to finish what they started because, of what I have already mentioned in my last point, they would've been seen as frauds and been overthrown by the people. Another similiraty is how they forced the people to confess, in the 5 kids incident, the police were offering them that they couldve been able to go home if they provided information of them stating they were there at the time of the incident. If they refused to comply from these orders, they would have been separated from their family and isolated until they followed along. "... had endured lengthy interrogations and been subjected to coercive and deceptive interrogation techniques, including force and trickery, sleep deprivation and isolation from their families. The complaint further asserts that the boys were told that they could go home if they provided statements placing themselves at the scene and incriminating others. "This can be seen in The Crucible with the way that they would've been offered freedom. In both of these cases, we can see the effects of what hysteria has on a situation, and the irrational actions that people take in an attempt to calm down the situation.

Mass Hysteria that Led to an Unjust Arrest

jsantiago171 — 2021-09-21 14:38:05 UTC

Jaycob Santiago-

In this editorial it explains the harsh trial that 5 teenagers in 1989 had to endure, these were called "The Central Park 5". Here, mass hysteria had erupted, a similar event that occurred in the play. The obvious difference is the crime that was committed, where in the editorial they were falsely convicted for assault, violation and murder, and on the other hand, in the play many were convicted because of being witches and performing witchcraft. The accusation in the editorial was direct, harsh and with little evidence, this was very unjust, and even more because they are underage, where they are easier to manipulate, Kharey Wise was 16 and was specially-educated, which is very unfair and tough to place him in that situation. "We see the special-education student, Kharey Wise, who was 16 but whose mental abilities were younger than his years". This is compared to the actions taken in The Crucible, where the pressure was very high for some people, such as Abigail, who was trying to be manipulated, consecutively in act 4 fled the scene with Mercy Lewis because of everything that was happening. Another similar linkage from this story to the play is that, without there being evidence, they got a lot of people involved who had nothing to do with the recurring problem. "noting that his DNA had been found at the scene and that there was no physical evidence to tie the five teenagers to the very bloody crime scene". Here it is explained how the teens had no intervention with this crime, and still they were imprisoned for 13 years. This aspect is similar to play in the way that over 90 people who most didn't have a trace with what was happening, who were just imprisoned unjustly just because they could have been part of witchcraft with little to no evidence sustaining the act against the imprisoned people. These types of act in law are really unjust, where I believe they should've proposed a different system to give way to crimes and such, so innocent people don't waste their lives paying for something they didn't do.

When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 teenagers

gmartinez171 — 2021-09-21 14:53:46 UTC

"That realization comes through with considerable force in a new documentary about the case of the five black and Hispanic teenagers who were wrongly convicted in the beating and 🤬 of a young, white jogger in Central Park in the spring of 1989".

"The convictions were overturned in 2002, after a serial rapist and murderer, who had staged a similar attack in the park just 48 hours before the one on the jogger, stepped forward to admit his crime, saying he acted alone".

The Central Park 5 & The Crucible

jalicea17 — 2021-09-21 18:35:19 UTC

Well to start let’s explain what The Central Park 5 is. The Central Park 5 are 5 black Hispanics that were accused of the 🤬 and murder of a young white jogger in Central Park in the spring of 1989. They were of age 13-16 meaning when they put them in jail they lost their youth. Then one of them said something that really is important “You can forgive but you won’t forget. You won’t forget what you do lose. No money could bring that time back. No money could bring the life that was missing or the time that was taken away.” The man that said this was Mr. Wise, who served 13 years.
In comparison to the crucible, it they accuse innocent like Elizabeth being accused of witchcraft. Then the 5 black Hispanic men. Then the line in the crucible “It cannot be forgotten, sir, that when I summoned the congregation for john proctor’s ex-communication...” ( By Paris pg. 118) That is what Paris Said about the trial. The article and The Crucible are the same cause they accuse innocent people without real evidence.

When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers

riveramolinajos — 2021-09-23 00:34:29 UTC

The New York Times editorial titled “When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers” by Brent Staples is about five teenagers that were wrongly convicted in beating and 🤬 (r a p e) of a young, in Central Park in the spring of 1989. The teenagers convicted were between the age of 14 to 16 years when they get convicted. The convictions were overturned in 2002, they pass almost 13 years in prison just for that injustice, but the pending federal lawsuit give to the men’s $50 million to each one for the damages cause. The situation of these five young men is like the situation in “The Crucible” with the innocent villagers being accused of witchcraft. When the men were accused, they didn’t have any physical evidence that argue the culpability of the five young men. In some part of the text, Brent Staples wrote: “the boys were told that they could go home if they provided statements placing themselves at the scene and incriminating others.”. This is a similar situation in the last pages of act one in “The Crucible” when Abigail William and Betty Parris begin to say random names, saying that they were with the Devil’s. In this way blaming people without evidence, totally innocent people.

When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers (Finished)

ccardoza17 — 2021-09-23 12:48:46 UTC

Contained below is a comparison between the events of the 1989 Central Park 5 case and the transcript of the play titled "The Crucible" published in 1953 by Arthur Miller.

New York, in a period where crime was in an all time high. A sequence of assaults and 🤬 occured in Central Park. A group of teenagers were seen entering the area, and not long after, victims were claiming to be assaulted, robbed, beaten and raped by these individuals. Soon enough, police arrived and apprehended 20 teenagers, taking custody of 5.

Shortly, when the 5 teens were interrogated, they were being pressured by the hysteria of the public (caused by the decline of order in New York) to plead guilty and made false confessions (despite being innocent) in order to escape further torture from the press, police and parents.

With these confessions the Central Park 5 were declared guilty (despite having an overwhelming lack of evidence) and wrongly served jail sentences spanning a decade and a half. Losing an important period of their lives, all because of peer pressure.

On the brightside, if it wasn't for the real perpretator stepping out and confessing in 2002, the Central Park 5 would've served for longer.

Now, how does the Central Park 5 relate to The Crucible? Closer than you'd think actually, both feature people being wrongly accused of something they didn't commit (The 5 teens and John Proctor, as well as the accused of Salem). Both are set in a very harsh environment (Crime-ridden Late 1980's New York and Salem). The real perpretator was caught not long after the damage was done (Matias Reyes and Abigail Williams). Both have an underlying message (Don't start judging other people just because everyone around you is, find out for yourself using details and evidence, not the word of an enraged mob).

The Central Park 5 and The Crucible Similarity by Joshuan Morillo

morillojoshuan — 2021-09-23 12:50:16 UTC

Before we begin discussing the similarities between these to topics, I want to give a brief summary for each one. First I would like to talk about “The crucible” novel. This play is about the Salem Witch Trials of 1962. It takes place in Salem, Massachusetts with Abigail William as main character. To give a brief summary, Abigail had and affair with John Proctor who is marry to Elizabeth proctor. Abigail you a in love with him and want to be with him so she relays on witchcraft so she can kill Elizabeth and be with John. What happened after that is that Parris found girls naked dancing in the woods but the girls said that they were bewitched. A trials in court start to find and execute the one that is doing witchcraft. This were all comes out of hands because everyone start accusing falsely and for other personal reasons. Last but not least, The Central Park 5. This is a case were 5 adolescents spent 5-11 years in prison for a crime of raping a woman in Central Park. What happened here is that they were arrested without evidence and they spent most of their time in prison. Basically they were falsely accused but because of the police having a bad reputation of not solving cases, it did not matter who they were.

Now for the similarities on both of the topics. On both topics as you can see there where people falsely accused. Is not only just that, they were not just falsely accused, it was for personal reasons. In the CP5, for example, they were accused and arrested because the police wanted to clean their reputation by “solving the case” they didn’t care who or how but someone have to be arrested.
“The five teenagers, aged 14 to 16, were convicted — based on confessions they say were coerced — in what former Mayor Ed Koch describes in the film as “the crime of the century.”

As for “The Crucible” in my opinion, is not that raw as the C.P.5 but is basically the same. Most of the people was falsely accused because jealousy, lands and mostly greed. As for the court, they didn’t stop the trial even tho they new all about people accusing falsely because they will ruin their reputation if they did. As for today that’s all that I have to say but I cannot leave without thank all of the people that read until this part. I hope that the information I put here has value for any of you. Take care.

The Crucible and The Central Park 5

saquino17 — 2021-09-23 12:57:15 UTC

The Central Park 5 is about the murder of a young jogger in Central Park, where the police accused 5 black innocent boys between the ages of 14 and 16 . The police in a way felt necessary to accuse someone for the great impact the case had on the city. They didn’t do any investigation or took evidence to prove their accusations. Also obliged the 5 boys to confess something they didn’t do. This case is a simple one to represent the real injustices that the world has. The Crucible is a great example of how injustice wins for a certain time. In this play, women were accused of being witches and the only evidence that was needed was the accusation itself. No one questioned the accusation, not one. This caused the death of many women of the time.

In the Central Park 5, the police lied to the boy with 14 years because they said that he only needed to say something specific for him to be free, but 10 years of his like were taken away. “We see a baby-faced 14-year-old Raymond Santana mumbling out a confession, which he now says he made up in an attempt to satisfy the police, who he claimed, promised to let him go home if only he provided a story.” Staples, Brent (2012) Like in the Crucible when the court forced Proctor to sign the declaration to finally have a defendant, and then they have to put in front the church to everyone know who was the witch, but he resisted and ended up dead.

As Staples said (2012). The five who were charged with the jogger case were depicted as “animals,” “savages” and especially “wolves” as they headed to convictions that were almost assured before the first juror was called. Never mind the absence of physical evidence, or the timeline analysis suggesting that the group was probably elsewhere in the park when the attack on the jogger took place.

Like in The Crucible the city has a great impact because they know the people that were accused, but they said nothing, some awareness of the truth supported what the court said.

For final a personal reflection with the word that Mr. Wise said, “You can forgive but you won’t forget. You won’t forget what you done lost. No money could bring that time back. No money could bring the life that was missing or the time that was taken away.” With these impressive phrases I want to add that sometimes judging without reason or commenting for commenting condemns us to the pain of the people affected, and that you will never be the same, life is not based on comments, opinions or money, we just have to be fair and happy. What the 5 young men from New York couldn't do, I put myself in their shoes.

Links between The Central Park 5 and The Crucible

gianrivera — 2021-09-23 12:57:53 UTC

The Central Park 5 is an event about the conviction of 5 black teenagers, ages 14-16, whom were accused of beating and preforming nonconsensual intercourse with a young white jogger in Central Park. The 5 teenagers were found guilty and convicted for the crime they did not commit which was shown by the lack of evidence against the 5. Much later, the real perpetrator stepped forward and admitted it was him but it was too late for the 5 teenagers who had just completed their prison sentences and were robbed of their youths.

The Crucible is almost a mirror of these events since, in this play, innocents were accused of witchcraft and then forced to either confess to the crime or be hanged. In the Crucible, a lot of people were accused of witchcraft unjustly and with no evidence and then were forced to confess to a crime they did not commit. Although in The Crucible no one had actually committed any crime and there was no one to actually blame, the people accused were still forced into an unwinnable battle for their innocence.

Both stories are very similar to one another in how the events went down. A few people were accused of a crime they did not commit and found guilty in a skewed justice system. This has happened more times than it should and we all know that's no good and I just hope that in the future, the justice system will learn from it's past mistakes and not be so quick to attack innocent people for personal reasons.

Mass hysteria influence in the Central park 5 and The Crucible

yahbzaisierra — 2021-09-23 13:01:48 UTC

As the Salem Witch trials and McCarthyism there has been other topics that correlates to The Crucible, one of them being ”When mass hysteria convicted five teens” New York Times by Brent Staples. These teens were wrongly accused by the police and incarcerated losing 13 years of there life. As same as the teen in The Crucible the people who were wrongly convicted as witches were either hanged or incarcerated even though the judge, the marshals, the priest, and the town new they were innocent. In both cases we can find basically the same reason that caused mass hysteria credibility, social standing, and political influence. The crucible portrays these topics in Parris and Judge Danforth, Parris was new in town and to gain credibility and keep his social standing high he practically led people to their death so that what his niece and daughter did didn’t affect both things he strived. In the judge’s case he was scared that once he stopped, he would lose credibility, social standing, and political influence because he signed the victim’s death warrant and if he stopped once he realized what really happened than he would not be the high and mighty judge he wanted to be and portray to the people. In the teens case the NYPD were literally holding on by a thread. At that time, they couldn’t resolve the cases they were dealing with, and the people started losing faith in them and basically solving what they needed the police for themselves. One the NYPD realized this and started losing basically their jobs they panicked and picked the first people they saw and convicted them. These two cases practically brought an ultimatum for the victims. Judge Danforth gambled with there lives, it was either confess and be in a prison sail, or deny and be hanged, for the teens was either confess and be let free after or be prosecuted for a worst thing or get hurt badly by them. In the news article Brent Staples wrote:” We see a baby-faced14-year-old Raymond Santana mumbling out a confession, which he now says he made up in an attempt to satisfy the police, who he claimed promised to let him go home if only he provided a story.” The same thing happened to Procter, he was made to declare that he was guilty and to sign a declaration proving that it was true but once he did, he wasn’t told that it would be put up in the church’s entrance for all to see and he refused. In the end both cases were unjust and unmoral, but what Mr. Wise said: “You can forgive but you won’t forget. You won’t forget what you done lost. No money could bring that time back. No money could bring the life that was missing or the time that was taken away.” Its very true in the end they did wrong, and nothing can bring back that lost time and those lost lives back.

how Central park incident is have to do something with the crucible

ijohn17 — 2021-09-23 13:20:14 UTC

In this time a women was found in central park unconscion when she wake up she dosen't remeber who did that to her and the people we're very scare about there is a person take out and beat her up and she was found with all her clothes all rip up. So the police find out that five teenagers, black and latino in the park almost in the time when that happen so they din't get the chanse to prove their innocent and they go to jail more than 10 years. When they found out that they we're innocent they already pass their sentence and they said that no money could bring back all the time was lost. In the crucible it happen almost the same but with more people. Here happen that people we're accuse for being whitches and they we're killed. In the central park incident those teeneger we're close to where happen the crime. In the Crucible the people that don't confess they we're hang up and when they find out that they we're innocent they we're already dead. Those five teenagers have been in jail during a long period and they feel that time they were in jail and they we're final free they feel that they should that they want to do in that time is was taken away been in jail them, innocent. In the Crucible happen the samething but more deadly alot of people in this book all most that have they name in the court and they don't confess they we're sent to death without any innocent.

When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers and The Crucible

dereko325 — 2021-09-23 13:22:22 UTC

The mass hysteria that convicted 5 teenagers (1989), they were in ages of 14-16 when convicted. They were wrongly convicted in the beating and 🤬 of a young, white jogger in Central Park. One of them made up a confession on the spot just to satisfy the police, they had told the boy if would just tell a story they would let him go. The conviction was overturned in 2002, after a rapist and murderer stepped forward and admitted his crime.

The Crucible share some similarities to this story. In The Crucible innocent people were hanged, those who had confessed were set free. Even though no one was truly to blame, and they were all innocent, some were still hanged. I want to add a quote from the ones who were convicted “You can forgive but you won’t forget. You won’t forget what you done lost. No money could bring that time back. No money could bring the life that was missing or the time that was taken away.”. This quote reminded me of the time when Proctor was convicted and Elizabeth as well, they had lost three months since they were accused to have a connection to the devil.

The Central Park joggers Case and the Crucible

lhernandez172 — 2021-09-23 13:27:46 UTC

The case of the five teenagers who were wrongly accused to control the hysteria of a state. This five unfairly tried teenagers is a clear example of the nineteen wrongly accused in the novel "The crucible." In this particular case, the situation of Raymond Santana is very similar to that of John Proctor in the story when Paris, Danforth and the others ask him to confess to a crime that he did not commit "he now says he made up in an attempt to satisfy the police, who has claimed promised to let him go home if only he has provided a story. ”. The novel and this real-life case not only have in common that both accused innocent people to calm the hysteria, but also that in both the people of the state felt repudiation towards the accused "In the public mind, a large group of teenagers who had roamed the park the evening of the jogger attack, chucking rocks at a cab and assaulting runners, embodied the decline of civilized society itself. The five who were charged with the jogger case were depicted as “animals,” “savages” and especially “wolves” as they headed to convictions that were almost assured before the first juror was called. ”. The case of the five teenagers after almost a decade paying for a crime they did not commit were released after many investigations but something key that one of the now adults mentioned was: “You can forgive but you won’t forget. You won’t forget what you done lost. No money could bring that time back. No money could bring the life that was missing or the time that was taken away. " This refers to the Salem families affected by the injustice of the supreme court.

Central Park 5

jvillanueva171 — 2021-09-23 13:30:11 UTC

Mass Hysteria

jserranojr2 — 2021-09-23 13:47:30 UTC

The Central Park incident is an event that convicted 5 teenagers of a crime they did not commit. The crime was beating and 🤬 a young women in Central Park. They were pressured and they confessed. They were thrown in prison for 10 years. This is similar to The Crucible because in the story many people were accused of witchcraft when they were innocent. Those people to not get executed the confessed to not die and instead be thrown in prison. Because this people know if they dont confess they would have died. Both in the play and in the incident people where pressured to confess enven it was a lie.

When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers and The Crucible

elenamendez — 2021-09-23 13:49:24 UTC

In 1989 in Harlem, a group of five Black and Latino teens were accused of raping a white woman in Central Park in New York. They were pressured by the police and the public to confess to a crime they had not committed. Although the group after having confessed that they were innocent the police did not believe in them, and they were taken to prison. It was not until 2002, when the conviction was again revived, and that it was indicated that the person who had actually committed the crime had been found and had done something similar to what had happened years ago. Unfortunately, they realized quite late because, some of the teenagers had served their sentence in prison and others took them out when they found the killer who had committed the crime.

However, this article is quite similar to what happened in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Since in this case there was a Mass Hysteria of Witchcraft where many innocent people were sentenced to death on alleged suspicions of witchcraft, where no matter how much you confessed that you were innocent, they killed you, in this case the 5 teenagers were not killed, but they spent much of their childhood in a prison. A rather particular case that caught my attention is what Raymond Santana pointed out in where he says, "he made up in an attempt to satisfy the police, who he claimed promised to let him go home if only he provided a story." Something that is quite similar to what happened with John Proctor where he confessed, only to please Danforth and Parris.

Central Park 5 & The Crucible

angeliryzcaraballo — 2021-09-23 14:28:11 UTC

As we read "The Crucible" and the "When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers" article we can see that justice is sometimes not done properly. This not only happened in ancient times, we are also living it day by day. In the article they blame 5 guys for supposedly 🤬 a woman, and in "The Crusible" they blame hundreds of people for witchcraft. I think one of the factors that affect, and should not, justice are religious and racial factors. In the articles you can see the racial discrimination towards those 5 Teenagers by the agents since they blamed them just "because yes", without having any proof. And the "The Crusible" justice is affected by religious factors, when the region had all the power of justice and nations.

"By the time the videotaped confessions were taken, the defendants, their lawyers say, had endured lengthy interrogations

and been subjected to coercive and deceptive interrogation techniques, including force and trickery, sleep deprivation and

isolation from their families ". With this quote from the article I refer to the fact that those 5 Teenagers took their time due to a false accusation. Like Abigail blaming other people for committing witchcraft.

The Central Park 5 and The Crucible

ddiaz171 — 2021-09-23 14:32:00 UTC

The article written by Brent Rivera talks about the case of five black and Hispanic teenagers who were wrongly convicted in the beating and 🤬 of a young, white jogger in Central Park in the spring of 1989. This case is similiar to the events that occur in The Crucible because people wrongfuly accuse others of something they didn't do. I think these accusations have a motivation behind them. In the Crucible Thomas Putnam is known to accuse others of witchcraft to own their land after they have been hanged. In the Central Park 5 case I believe racism and other prejudgements led to the conviction of the five black teenagers. These prejudgements have the power to convince everyone of something that isn't true and change the way the justice system works. The accused have no choice but to confess to something they didn't do because everyone thinks they know what happened, like what happened with accused in The Crucible. This brings up the question to know how far would you go to defend yourself against everyone. It takes a lot of courage to defend yourself in these situations. The concept of morality vs reputation is present here. Maybe doing what's morally correct has a worse outcome, like what happened to John Proctor at the end of The Crucible. Mass hysteria makes everyone turn against eachother and makes the correct decision harder to make.

"The Central Park five"

mariavvillanueva15 — 2021-09-23 14:32:13 UTC

“The Central Park five” these 5 teenagers ages 14-16 were convicted for alleged 🤬 and beating a white jogger in 1989. These teenagers, black and Hispanic, were wrongly accused but still confessed to another person’s crimes. This is what we know happened in The Crucible. The only way to be redeemed of execution was to confess or point the finger at another to prove yourself innocent. So many, to save themselves, confessed, because it was what the church wanted to hear, so they did. The teenagers, as it states in the article confessed because they were told they would be permitted to go home if they did confess and incriminate others. They all confessed and still had to do over a decade in prison. Over ten years and there wasn’t even a spot of DNA or real physical evidence to place them at the time of or even in the crime scene. We can compare this to The Crucible because, since back then it was a religious matter there wasn’t any proof of them really being witches, or that they had been dealing with the devil, even so they were still executed and convicted. They went through all that pain for 13 years, just so the judge, investigators, lawyers, and officers could please the public with someone to be blamed for the crime. There is nothing that will be of replacement to all that time lost, or the lives of the people lost in Salem.

-Marivi

“The Crime of the Century” in Central Park

genesissoto011 — 2021-09-23 14:40:31 UTC

In “The Crucible” we can see a lot of innocent people being killed because of Abigail Williams and the mass hysteria, but she was the main culprit of everything that was happening in Salem, Massachusetts. In the Central Park five black and Hispanic teenagers were wrongly accused and convicted for beating and 🤬 a young white jogger, in the spring of 1989. These five teenagers, aged between 14 to 16; these teenagers had similar ages to Abigail Williams and her friends, who were also innocently acussed because of Abigail’s doing. These five teenagers passed thirteen years of their life’s in jail because of a crime they didn’t commit, as Kharey Wise says, who was one of the five teenagers who were accused, as he said, “You can forgive but you won’t forget. You won’t forget what you done lost. No money could bring that time back. No money could bring the life that was missing or the time that was taken away.”. They were accused just because of being in the park nearly at the same of the crime and there wasn't any physical evidence that these five teenagers murdered the jogger. In 2002, after a serial rapist and murderer, the real killer’s DNA was found, he confessed and saıd that he had acted alone.

Alondra A. Rios Quintana

alondrarios1 — 2021-09-23 15:08:06 UTC

Comparisons between The Crucible and the case of the five adolescents:

In this case, five teenagers were wrongly convicted. They were imprisoned for thirteen years, causing them to lose a large part of their lives. On the other hand, you could compare this case with The Crucible. In this work, people were also accused at random, without being guilty. The truth is that we can see in both cases the great injustice since not true or firm evidence that they were the true culprits, but nevertheless, they were strongly accused. (The 5 teens and John Proctor, as well as the Salem defendant). Another comparison he was able to make between these two cases is that the real perpetrator was caught shortly after the damage done was done (Matías Reyes and Abigail Williams). In both cases they put people between a rock and a hard place to confess. In the case of the five teenagers, the policemen told them that they could have gone home if they gave information, "confessing" that they were there. If they refused to comply with the tax by the police, they were totally isolated. In both cases I have been subjected to interrogations and I have been subjected to deception. This can be seen in The Crucible, since, just as the five adolescents were told to blame others in order to have freedom, in the play they were also given conditions to obtain their freedom. Finally, I can see certain similarities, but the truth is that the most visible similarity is that in both cases they were grossly unfair and grossly immoral.

The Crucible and 5 teenagers vs The Mass Hysteria

lencarnacion17 — 2021-09-24 14:56:18 UTC

Unfortunately, there are similar things that happened in "The Crucible" and the article "When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers", but let's start by explaining what happened in each writing and what makes them similar. In Act 4 of "The Crucible", innocent people were accused of witchcraft, and they were hanged, unless they confessed that they practiced witchcraft, even if it was a lie. In "The Crucible" they "forced" the accused to confess in order to save their lives. The article tells the story of 5 teenagers who were accused of horrible crimes, and were sentenced for several years for a crime they didn't commit. For you to understand, I'm going to tell you how it all started. These teenagers were in a park just at the time a woman got sexually assaulted, and the police inferred that they were responsible for what happened. When they got to the interrogation room, the officers made them a false promise, just to get a story of the situation. What was this promise? The police told them that if they told them a story, even if it was a lie, they were going to set them free. Being children, they fell into the lies and confessed something that wasn't true just to be able to obtain their freedom. According to the article, people referred them as "savages", "wolves" and "animals". By a false promise, the police ruined their reputation and their life. After 13 years, the real criminal turned himself in and said that he acted alone. After so many years they got set free but as Mr. Wise said: "You can forgive but you won't forget". These two stories are very similar since both parts had to admit a crime they didn't commit to live or be free again. Innocent people were charged, just so they could get a story and convict them. Unfortunately, we live in a world that judges before knowing.

When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers and The Crucible

tavaalondra — 2021-09-24 22:03:26 UTC

The article is titled "When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers" by Brent Staples and the story of this begins in 1989 in Central Park 28-year-old white women was found dead and the police blamed five innocent African American teenagers’ boys that were there. The five boys were between the age of 14-16 years, and they were going to jail for a crime that they didn’t commit. After more than 13 years in prison the police found a rapist and murderer that did the same thing to a girl. After matching his DNA in the scene, the found that he was the responsible for all of this. They charged these children only with what the police had declared because their DNA did not match the prints from the scene. In the Crucible we can see that the authority blamed people innocent people with no evidence. They blamed Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Tituba, and Sarah Good and more innocent people. They force them to confess, or they were going to be hang. These trials were about the imprisonment and hanging of people who were thought to be witches. The article says “No money could bring the life that was missing or the time that was taken away” it means that these 5 boys didn’t have the chance to live their youth, and nothing can make them go back to being those young people that they were. They did not have the chance to get to know their family better and watch it grow. They were also young people who needed that support from their parents, and they did not have the opportunity to live that daily for more than 13 years. In the crucible act 4 they hang many people who have families which are children, and those children were left without parents or guardians to be able to grow up with and those women who were widowed and will not have the support of her husband to help him support his family. To conclude, the two stories have a lot in common, people were unjustly accused for acts they did not commit and only had the obligation to confess or die. Children participated, people offered their lives for others, and family members suffered.

Rasheed A. Santos

rasheedsantos — 2021-09-28 12:48:41 UTC

Ending the 80s specifically in 1989 5 Black and Latino teenagers was accused of abuse and 🤬 a white girl that was running in the New York’s Central Park. The problem with this is that the guys didn’t do that, they never abuse of a girl, but they have been accused. And the truth come out thirteen years later. So, in 2002 they have been sent free because a rapist also a serial killer protagonist a similar act 48 hours before the guy’s situation, so he admits that he did it and that he acts alone. The Crucible is a novel about this man that find a girl dancing naked, and they say that they were bewitches. And this man reverend Paris can let people know because then they can accuse him. And star a case to know who do the witchcraft. So, all the people in this town named Salem star blaming each other. Ones to him and others because have personal problems. The point is that they accuse without proves. Think this can be compared to the crucible because in The Crucible we can note that from star everybody is blaming each other for reason not reasonable. They have reasons but don’t get to prove that can complement or can be related to the case. We can note that Elizabeth was blame by Abigail because want her husband, and in general the crucible is about accusation and people blame without of proves for external situations.

Rodny A. Plaza

rodplazpiz1 — 2021-09-28 15:12:27 UTC

The central park five and the Crucible comparison:In the case of the central park boys, five teenagers were innocently charged and imprisoned for thirteen years. This could be compared to The Crucible, since in the reading people were accused at random, without being guilty. In both cases, people were charged and found guilty without any evidence. In both cases, the guilty are found, but time after sentencing the innocent. In the case of the central park five, the culprit was Matias Reyes, who had already committed similar crimes. In the case of The Crucible, it was Abigail Williams. In both cases they look for methods to force them to confess. In the case of the five teenagers, the police officers told them that they could have gone home if they gave information, "confessing." In both cases people have been interrogated and misled. In conclusion, both cases were grossly unfair and immoral.

José Lebrón - 11 Franklin

lebronjose88 — 2022-09-08 14:04:34 UTC

One of the first signs that remind us of the events that happened the play in crucible is the fact that the teenagers that were alleged to have committed the crime in central park were forced to confess on a crime. But later the real criminal was found. This also happened in the crucible, during the second act. This was when Proctor forces Mary to confess that Abigail made the poppet with the needle in it. Mary did not want to confess because if she did she would be killed by Abigail.

"The five teenagers, aged 14 to 16, were convicted — based on confessions they say were coerced — in what former Mayor Ed Koch describes in the film as “the crime of the century.” [...] The convictions were overturned in 2002, after a serial rapist and murderer, who had staged a similar attack in the park just 48 hours before the one on the jogger, stepped forward to admit his crime, saying that he had acted alone."

Comparison between The Crucible and The Central Park 5

maxsalchipapa — 2022-09-08 14:13:05 UTC

The Central Park 5 was an even in April of 1989 where 5 black and Latino teenagers were acused of the beating and 🤬 of a Jogger in NYC's Central Park. Two of them served 6 and a half years, one of them served 5 years, and one served 11 and a half years. This is very similar to what occurs in The Crucible in the way that people were being accused of witchcraft in Salem without no real valid evidence and some got executed, something similar can be seen here in the way that these 5 teens got accused without finding real evidence they had done the crime and suffered consecuences for the actions of somebody else.

Diego Martínez

2022-09-08 14:18:36 UTC

In 1989, there were 5 kids from the age 14-16 accused of sexually assaulting and abusing a 28-year old white woman. They were exonerated in 2002, but years of their life had been wasted rotting in prison. "Looking back at their younger selves, the men speak of loss and of standing at a kind of remove from the lives they are trying to live." The crucible and this incident are similar in a way, because the boys didn't commit this crime yet they admitted to doing it. "We see a baby-faced 14-year-old Raymond Santana mumbling out a confession, which he now says he made up in an attempt to satisfy the police, who he claimed promised to let him go home if only he provided a story. We see the special-education student, Kharey Wise, who was 16 but whose mental abilities were younger than his years. He is overwhelmed when shown a picture of the victim’s injuries and almost swooning with gratitude when someone hands him a can of soda." It is similar in the crucible where Mary is overwhelmed by the people in court yelling at her and making her nervous so much that she tells a lie and says John was the one who made her act with the devil. John admits to dealing with the devil even though he was only accused and never actually did it.

Axel Mesa 11-Franklin

axelmesa — 2022-09-08 14:31:27 UTC

The events that transpired in “The Crucible” are very similar to what happened on 1989 in New York because both were caused by mass hysteria. The events that transpired in the Crucible happened because Abigail had a hidden agenda which was to be John Proctors wife and in the central park five, the police had a hidden agenda which was to settle a case with black kids as the sacrifices. We can also see the similarities in the forced confessions in both events. In The Crucible the only way to survive and not be killed was by “confessing” to witchcraft and in the central park five, they were illegally coerced to confess with the false assurance that if they did they would be allowed to go home. Another thing that is very similar is how the government is forced to acknowledge their mistakes and think that they can fix everything by compensating the victims. We can see this in the salem witch trials when years have passed by and people have already been killed, they compensate the families of the victims and in the central park five, the rapist turned himself in and the five boys were compensated with a large amount of money which will never give back the time that they lost.

“The convictions were overturned in 2002, after a serial rapist and murderer, who has staged a similar attack in the park just 48 hours before the one on the jogger, stepped forward to admit his crime, saying that he had acted alone.”

Brittany Rosario - 11 Franklin

brittanyrosario1129 — 2022-09-08 14:32:52 UTC

“When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers” is an article written by Brent Staples and it talks about a recent documentary about the case of 5 black and Hispanic teenagers who were unjustly convicted of beating and raping a young white jogger in Central Park in the spring of 1989. The documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, along with his daughter Sarah Burns and her husband David McMahon, wrote and produced the film. It provides a disturbing look at the forces that compelled the public, the government, the media, and the criminal justice system to ignore blindingly obvious gaps in the case's evidence. The five teenagers, who ranged in age from 14 to 16, were found guilty based on confessions they claim were coerced, of what former mayor Ed Koch refers to in the movie as "the crime of the century". The convictions were reversed in 2002 after a serial rapist and murderer who had planned a similar attack in the park only 48 hours before the one on the jogger came forward to confess and claim that he had acted alone and to accept his crime. The Manhattan district attorney's office carried out an in-depth investigation that supported the man's account, noting that his DNA had been discovered at the scene and that there was no physical evidence linking the five youngsters to the extremely bloody crime scene. The investigation report seemed to suggest that the five shouldn't have even been charged in the first place and that the court should reverse the convictions. Kharey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Raymond Santana had already served their time and had lost their youth by that point.

Now, how can we link this case with “The Crucible”? In The Crucible, neighbors turn against one another out of the blue and accuse people they've known for years of engaging in witchcraft and devil worship. Salem experiences mass hysteria, a state in which collective dread supersedes reason and individual thinking. In the Crucible individual interest and wanting to end with the hysteria once and for all lead to the death of many people. This is exactly the same thing that happened with “the Central Park Five” case. In that time the case took place, exactly in the year 1989, crime in New York city was in it’s peak. The Police Department was being shamed for doing nothing to stop the crime rate in the city, and what this particular 🤬 incident happened, people went rampant. The police were pressured to find someone to blame for this incident quickly. This pressure from the public lead to the accusation of 5 teenagers that were in proximity when the 🤬 incident happened. The police didn’t have any type of evidence against these boys, they just wanted someone to blame so that people would calm down. They coerced the boys to confess to the crime they certainly didn’t commit, and then made the whole city believe that tis boys have done it. In the play ‘The Crucible” something very similar happens,one of the main characters, Abigail, manipulates a group of girls and a black slave to practice witchcraft with her so that she can kill the wife of the man she is obsessed with. This later on created chaos in Salem, and Abigail uses the situation to her advantage and blames the black slave of coercing her to practice witchcraft and continues blaming several more women. Many people are convicted, and many died because of this irrational chaos Abigail created, and even when the judges of the trials caught a glimpse of the truth, they immediately ignored it because they didn’t want to tarnish their reputation and show the people they were fooled. We can see that in both cases people lose rational thought and believe the first thing there told since they are desperate for the chaos to be over. In both situations, people of power use the situation and the people’s vulnerability to their advantage and only look for fast and irrational solutions to the problems. With case like the Central park five and the play “The Crucible” we learn that when society is presented with stressful situation we blind our eyes with fear and ignore the truth.

The Crucible is just like the Central Park 5

2022-09-08 14:39:34 UTC

The Central Park 5 was a case of 5 teenagers that were accused of a crime that they didn't make. In the 1989 in Central Park the police found a body of a white young girl beaten up, raped and naked. New York were passing for a lot of problems and didn't want one more. So, they found these 5 teenagers and make them tell that they did the crime without evidence. Cause they didn't have any prove to accused them. They were in prison for more than a decade until in 2002 the real criminal admitted the crime. Just like in the Central Park 5 in the crucible they accused everyone without evidence and make them admitted a crime they didn't make. Actually, sometimes they tortured them to tell accused person to get rid of to buy their lands. So basically, is the same. The hysteria of having the hands hold because you don't have word. We can see it in the present mostly in the US with the African Americans. The police can just take you if you fit the description. All the white police see us like criminals just cause where black.

Aidelís León - 11mo Franklin

aidelisleon — 2022-09-08 14:54:06 UTC

The consequences of hysteria

When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers is a sad historical event that happened in Central Park in 1989. Five teenagers were wrongfully accused and jailed for more than a decade for a crime they did not commit. When they were accused of this crime, they were between 14 and 16, they were beginning to live, and justice ruined their lives at an early age. It is such an unfair case because the only reason these young people were charged was because of the hysteria that was going on at the time. Justice did not even have enough evidence to blame them and even, so they did it and brought them to their knees to confess a crime they did not commit. “Never mind the absence of physical evidence, or the timeline analysis suggesting that the group was probably elsewhere in the park when the attack on the jogger took place.” This is a quote by Brent Staples from his article titled “When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 teenagers”. In this article he tells us all the injustice that these poor boys suffered due to the negligence of the judicial system.

The injustices that were committed in this event are very similar to those that happened in the play "The Crucible" which in turn is inspired by the historical event "Red Scare". In The Crucible we can see how the mass hysteria ended with a town. The town of Salem, Massachusetts was a sleepy one until rumour’s of witchcraft surfaced. When these rumour’s came to light, the town entered into a crisis and began to look for culprits to exterminate them. They accused many people of being witches without proof through lies and deceit. Although they did not have safe and reliable evidence, they accused all those innocent people and killed them. They murdered half the town because of the hysteria. The crucible and what happened to these young people is similar in that they were all accused because of mass hysteria without congruent evidence to confirm their accusations. In both cases, great injustices were committed, and the lives of many people were ruined. These are clear examples of what mass hysteria can cause and why you must be careful with this type of situation since it can ruin the lives of so many people.

Mass Hysteria in the present

JorgeG0 — 2022-09-11 13:23:08 UTC

The Central Park jogger case (events also referenced as the Central Park Five Case) was a criminal case in the United States over the aggravated assault and 🤬 of a white woman in Manhattan's Central Park on April 19, 1989, occurring at the same time as an unrelated string of other attacks in the park the same night. Five black and Latino youths were convicted of assaulting the woman, and served sentences ranging from six to twelve years. All later had their charges vacated after a prison inmate confessed to the crime.

From the outset the case was a topic of national interest. Initially, it fueled public discourse about New York City's perceived lawlessness, criminal behavior by youths, and violence toward women. After the exonerations, the case became a prominent example of racial profiling, discrimination, and inequality in the legal system and the media. All five defendants subsequently sued the City of New York for malicious prosecution, racial discrimination, and emotional distress; the city settled the suit in 2014 for $41 million.

All of this is very similar to the play "The Crucible". Inspired by the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, focuses on the inconsistencies of the Salem witch trials and the extreme behavior that can result from dark desires and hidden agendas. Miller bases the play on the historical account of the Salem witch trials. The main problem is the mass hysteria due to witchcraft. "Mass hysteria always makes perfect sense when we are trapped in it."

During interrogations in the play it can be compared to the real life central park 5 since both were subjected to "lengthy interrogations and been subjected to coercive and deceptive interrogation techniques, including force and trickery, sleep deprivation and isolation from their families."

Alondra Santana - 11mo Franklin

wuilmarsantana — 2022-09-12 02:13:04 UTC

In 1989, 5 black and Hispanic teenagers between the ages of 14 and 16 were wrongfully convicted of beating and raping a girl in Central Park. These young people did not commit the act and had no reason to be in jail and lose 13 years of their lives for a crime they did not commit. "An investigation was carried out indicating that DNA had been found at the scene and that there was no physical evidence to link the five teenagers to the crime. But the inquest report, which recommended that the court overturn the convictions, seemed to suggest that the five should never have been charged. But by this time, Kharey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana had served their sentences and had their lives stolen". 13 years later the real rapist appears. We can clearly see the hysteria. They stole the lives of 5 innocent teenagers when they were just beginning to live. The only reason these young people were charged was because of the hysteria that was going on at the time. It is an injustice and a shame to see cases like this. In the New York Times article "When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenager" one of the teenagers, Kharey Wise, were interviewed and he says a phrase which caught my attention: "You can forgive but you won't forget. You won't forget what you done lost. No money could bring that time back. No money could bring the life that was missing or the time that was taken away." I clearly agree, nothing is going to be able to give them back the 13 years of life they lost because of something they didn't do. They were accused just because of being in the park nearly at the same of the crime and there wasn't any physical evidence that these five teenagers murdered the jogger.
How can we relate this case to The Crucible?
In the Crucible we can see how the mass hysteria ended with a town. When rumors of witchcraft spread in Salem, people in the city didn't know what to do. The city were in a crisis and hysteria for witchcraft and their religion. They accused people without having any type of evidence and sentenced them to death. Innocent people lost their lives just because of rumors, which were not confirmed because there was no evidence. We can compare it with the case of the young people because they were accused and they didn't even have evidence, they made them lose 13 years of their lives for something they didn't do, but the system didn't take the time to investigate either, they just got carried away by hysteria. In The crucible we can see many innocent people dying and it is more because of Abigail Williams who was of a similar age to the young people in the case, her friends also who were accused of Abigail's actions and all of them were between the ages of these young boys.

Central Park 5 cases- Salem Witch Trails / 11 Franklin

2022-09-12 17:07:33 UTC

In 1989 5 black and Hispanic teenagers between the ages of 14 and 16 were innocently convicted for beating and raping a girl in Central Park. We can see this in the Salem witch trials when without proof they accused people of doing witchcraft when they certainly did not. Even one of the boys was trialed as an adult, he wasn't even at the park when it happened. The only difference is that later on even tho they lost 13+ years of they're life, on prison, they were luckier than a lot of people in the Salem witch trials so they were killed so they couldn't get out of it and prove their innocence. A lot of weird things happened in the trial of these five young boys, even like information from the files that came to light say: "An exhaustive investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office corroborated the man’s story — noting that his DNA had been found at the scene and that there was no physical evidence to tie the five teenagers to the very bloody crime scene. The investigation report, which recommended that the court overturn the convictions, seemed to suggest that the five should never have been indicted at all. But by that time, Kharey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Raymond Santana had completed their sentences and been robbed of their young lives." After they lost 13 years of their life the real persona that did it which was a "serial rapist and murderer, who had staged a similar attack in the park just 48 hours before the one on the jogger, stepped forward to admit his crime, saying that he had acted alone." he came forward and was honest of this crime, and after he confessed the trial was opened again and all of them went frees.

A little about what happened in the Salem witch trials was that in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft (the Devil's magic) and 20 were executed. Eventually, the colony admitted the trials were a mistake and compensated the families of those convicted. it happened the same after the damage was done they realized the mistake they just committed and after they were criticized and hated because of the injustice of the circumstances.

These two cases have a lot of things in common not only the part where the group of people in both scenarios were "people with little power" in the eyes of other people. The injustice that was made was just cruel and devastating. They thought they were doing the right thing and it really wasn't at the end of the day, they damaged their life, and even lost part of their life in both cases. In a way, the 5 men of the central park were a little luckier but it still was rough. They could not even prove their innocence they just were accused they did not have a voice, just like in the Salem witch trials and non of the cases had incriminating proof to tell de judges they did it. The police did not do their job and dit sad that to this day it still happens. The only responsible people are the accusers, who end up damaging people's life just because they want to. It's a shame how this two can be compared, it says a lot about how a lot of people haven't changed. Something that really caught my eyes was this from an article I looked up to learn more about the Salem witch trials and really reminded me of this in the Central park case "The film scarcely mentions the pending federal lawsuit in which the five men and their families are seeking $50 million each in damages. But lawyers for the city have subpoenaed raw footage and outtakes from the film, “The Central Park Five", was this in the one of Salem witch trials, ” arguing that the material is crucial to its ability to defend itself. The subpoena fight shows that the past, as Faulkner pointed out, is never really past."By September 1692, the hysteria had begun to abate and public opinion turned against the trials. Though the Massachusetts General Court later annulled guilty verdicts against accused witches and granted indemnities to their families, bitterness lingered in the community, and the painful legacy of the Salem witch trials would endure for centuries." in other words, it was almost the same thing that happened in the case of Central park.

Central park 5 case - Salem Witch Trails | 11 Hypatia

rubenamaro — 2022-09-12 17:10:45 UTC

In 1989, New York was on a time were crime was high and the department of police was getting a bad reputation for not doing there job of catching criminals. In order to get there reputation up they accuses 5 teenagers between ages of 14 - 16 were accused and arrested for the beating and 🤬 of a young female jogger in the Central Park. The 5 teenagers were; Steve Lopez, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Corey Wise. Even tough there was evidence that they were not the criminals they still got a sentence that lasted 13 years.

In the Salem Witch Trails, many people were accused of being witches. When one was accused they were forced to confess even if they didn't do anything, and if they didn't confess they would be hang. When the court had someone that was accused and had no evidence they still forced them to confess so that the court have more reputation.

The Salem Witch Trails and the Central park 5 case had many things in common especially with the mass hysteria. A thing is the abuse of power of the court and the police, even tough they know that people are innocent they still use there power to have more reputation and ruin others life for there own benefit. The mass hysteria was a big part of this things, in the Witch trails was the fear of being accused of being a witch, and the police accusing you of doing something you clearly didnt do.

“You can forgive but you won’t forget. You won’t forget what you done lost. No money could bring that time back. No money could bring the life that was missing or the time that was taken away.”

Olaia Hernández - 11 Hypatia

olaiahernandez1 — 2022-09-12 17:21:33 UTC

in 1989, There was a case called 'The Central Park 5". It involved five men(Antron McCray, 15, Kevin Richardson, 15, Yusef Salaam, 15, Raymond Santana, 14, and Korey Wise, 16) who were accused of having beaten and repeatedly raped a 28 year old woman, then being arrested, but later freed because they were actually innocent. In The Crucible, this relates to the fact that people of power accused wrongly, and it could cost lives. An example related to this is when Judge Danforth and others started accusing various people, especially then wives of Putnam and Corey. They were scared of the unknown, and acted rashly upon the situation.
In the case, These five men were wrongly accused without any right to defend themselves.

Mass Hysteria in Reality || Arianis Reyes - 11 Hypatia

arianisgonzalez — 2022-09-12 17:34:05 UTC

This article titled "When Mass Hysteria Convicted 5 Teenagers" is about a well-known documentary called Central Park Five, which tells the story of five African-American teenagers who were wrongfully accused and indicted in 1989 on charges including but not limited to assault, 🤬 and sexual abuse, and attempted murder, what is shocking is that they did not commit any of these crimes. In turn, The Crucible is a work written by Arthur Miller about the Salem witch trials of 1692. Both work unfair and totally false accusations, but still cause great consequences for the accused. Trisha Meili was beaten and raped during her nightime run, the next morning she was found, she spend 12 days in coma and when she woke up, didn’t remember anything. There was around 30 susspects, the police taked this 5 teenagers to court, they were 14-16 years old. In the Crucible the first accused was Sarah Good, since Tituba was forced to say some names; an easy escape. This 5 teens were also an easy target for the accusation. In the article we see that, “The five who were charged with the jogger case were depicted as “animals,” “savages” and especially “wolves” as they headed to convictions that were almost assured before the first juror was called. Never mind the absence of physical evidence, or the timeline analysis suggesting that the group was probably elsewhere in the park when the attack on the jogger took place.” so, there wasn’t any clear evidence that showed an accusation with a solid basis, but still they waisted more than 10 years of their lives in prision for a crime they didn’t commit. In the Crucible, we see at the end of the play how many characters are hanged, without valid evidence, without solid accusations, they were drived into serious consequences, just like this 5 teens. They all lost something that couldn’t be returned.

Central Park 5 case: mass hysteria in Central park

jlugo9599 — 2022-09-12 17:47:02 UTC

The Central Park jogger incident happened back in 1989, it revolved around 5 teenagers which were of black and Hispanic ethnicity, they all were from 14 to 16 years old. They were accused of aggravated assault and raping a white woman in Manhattan’s Central Park, that same night other attacks happened too but each was unrelated to the other.

The case of Central Park 5 was allegedly done by 5 teenagers that were: Antron McCray he was 15, Kevin Richardson 15, Yusuf Salaam 15, Raymond Santana 14 and Korey Wise 16) these where the kids that were accused of r###g a 28 year old woman.

One of the events that can be related or called related between the night of 1989 and in the crucible are the teenagers that were obligated to confess to a crime they didn’t do, some time passed and later on the real criminal was found just as Proctor with Mary because he told her to confess or else Abigail would kill her. In the case of the Central Park 5 they weren’t going to get killed by someone else but they were obligated to confess to something that wasn’t true nor did they do it.

Comparing The Crucible and The Central Park 5

gabrielfreire — 2022-09-12 17:47:50 UTC

The Crucible is about mass hysteria over an alleged witchcraft case in Salem. Its protagonist John Proctor was falsely accused of witchcraft. While the 1989 Central Park case was about 5 young men who were falsely accused of abusing a woman. Those responsible for both crimes emerged from the cases unharmed although they suffered the consequences of their actions. Abigail became a prostitute after stealing the money and then the person who abused the woman turned herself in to the authorities 48 hours after the event. The evidence from the Central Park case was stated by Brent Staples: "The convictions were overturned in 2002, after a serial rapist-murderer, who had carried out a similar attack in the park just 48 hours before the one in the runner, admitted his crime and said he had acted alone." Page 1 of the article. While in the Crucible they tell us: "The legend has it that Abigail turned up later as a prostitute in Boston. " on page 148 of Penguin Classics. Something that differentiates both cases is that the 5 children were released but Proctor died.

Central Park - 11-Hypatia

elbelierrivera — 2022-09-12 17:51:14 UTC

The mass hysteria of this news is in the time of 1989, where a group of 5 young people between 14 and 16 were sentenced to jail for, according to the police, raping a white woman in Central Park. The police imprisoned them and they spent up to 13 years deprived of their freedom. While The Crucible, is a story that tells in 1692, in a town in Salem in which a group of people were accused and convicted of witchcraft. This story and event can be related because in both there is the theme of defamation, which is accusing someone of something that is a lie or did not do. This generates hysteria throughout the town because they don't know what to do in either case, neither with witchcraft nor with 🤬. That is why what the police does is imprison them to look for a culprit and in history the judges condemn them so as not to damage their reputation. In both events it is seen that the condemned are the ones who suffer, while the accusers do not pay them.

Elena- The Central Park Five

elenaemmanuelli — 2022-09-12 17:51:39 UTC

In April 19, 1989, five teenagers from Harlem, New York were falsely accused of raping and beating up a white woman by the name of Trisha Meili. In 2002 the real criminal, Matias Reyes, was found and later convicted. Although money could never replace the amount of mental distress that these five men were exposed to, the five men sued New York in 2014 and 2016, receiving a total of $44.9 million dollars. Aside from not being able to get all the time they spent in jail back, they were degraded by men and women who believed the court. "The five who were charged with the jogger case were depicted as “animals," “savages “and especially “wolves” as they headed to convictions that were almost assured before the first juror was called". The case was deemed as a racial injustice due to the fact that historically cases like this were more than common. If a black man was accused of raping a white woman, they would immediately be hunted down and lynched. This case is a prime example of power dynamics that are presented in the U.S justice system.

We can compare this situation to the timeless cautionary tale that is 'The crucible'. Everyone pointed a finger at the accused with no evidence whatsoever. This caused a total of 20 deaths, 19 of them were hung, the remaining 1 was tortured to death. We live in a world were people have a "sheep-like" mindset.

Andrea Portalatín 11 Hypatia

andreaportalatin — 2022-09-12 17:57:52 UTC

The Central Park Five was a case where five black and latino teens were convicted without concrete evidence for 🤬 and physical violence in 1989. “In the public mind, a large group of teenagers who had roamed the park the evening of the jogger attack, chucking rocks at a cab and assaulting runners, embodied the decline of civilized society itself.” That quote shows how society depicted that innocent group of teens at the moment. Their case was overturned on 2002 when the real rapist stepped forward and confessed. This case is similar to the events of The Crucible since the victims were mostly falsely accused and didn’t require barely any evidence to be convicted.

Andres Prado- 11 Hypatia

2022-09-12 17:59:45 UTC

In the year 1989 a case came to light called "The Central Park 5". There were 5 teenagers involved in this case that were between the ages of 14 and 16. But sadly this case did not go their way and it ruined their life. This case starts with Trisha Meili being ra**d and beaten during her midnight run. Which made her go into a coma were she then woke up and some time later they had 30 suspects. But they chose these 5 who are innocent and didn't care that there was no evidence proving that they were guilty. Just like "The Crucible" we see that a lot more people are accused with the absence of evidence. Also they were forced even to confess to a crime they didn't commit.

A event that this can compared to is when John Proctor is obligated to make Mary Warren confess because then his wife Elizabeth will die when she is completely innocent. Also we can see this in the rest of the trials were people have to confess to something they didn't do just like the 5 innocent central park acuused.

Yedrian Nieves-11 Hypatia

yedrianj2 — 2022-09-13 00:20:56 UTC

The 5 young people was a quite scandalous case and a shame for the United States police, these 5 young people who are unjustly accused of a crime that none of them, just because of their skin color or because they are of another nationality they were involved. They suffered for 13 years in prison, this police officer threatened them during interrogations. They received an amount of money for the false accusations and for putting the wrong people behind bars. As the article says, “You can forgive, but you won't forget. You won't forget what you've done, lost. Nope
money could bring that time back. No money could bring the life that was missing or the time that was taken away.” The crucible has something similar to this case is that they were accused without evidence, they only accused of revenge, if you dislike someone or anything personal. We can also see the irresponsibility of the judges, since they are the ones who dictate the punishment of those people.

Fear, prejudice and the need to blame

leylaortiz — 2022-09-13 00:45:16 UTC

When fear and prejudice work together the outcome can be very unfortunate for their target. Like in The Crucible, fear of god and prejudice against the ungodly can be similar to the fear of prejudice of Latino and black men. Fear and prejudice led to the incarceration of "witches" just like Black and Latino men were called "savages". In the Central Park 5 we can see that innocent young boys were blamed without evidence just like the innocent people in Salem.

-The five who were charged with the jogger case were depicted as “animals,” “savages” and especially “wolves”.-

"The Central Park Five" - Giomar

2022-09-13 03:15:52 UTC

The "Central Park Five" case takes place on April 19, 1989. Five black teenagers known as Antron McCRay, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise. The age of these teenagers was between 14 and 16 years old. They were charged with the 🤬 of a white woman named Trisha Meili in Manhattan's Central Park. They were taken to jail for 13 years of their lives. The case was overturned in 2002, when the person who actually raped the woman turned himself in and admitted that he committed the attack alone.

“The convictions were overturned in 2002, after a serial rapist and murderer, who has staged a similar attack in the park just 48 hours before the one on the jogger, stepped forward to admit his crime, saying that he had acted alone.”

This case can be seen in a similar situation in "The crucible". It happens when Abigail accuses 14 people of doing witchcarft. They were arrested and sentenced to death.

The Central Park 5 vs. The Crucible

joserivera29 — 2022-09-13 13:40:01 UTC

In the spring of 1998 5 black and Hispanic teenagers were convicted of beating and raping a young white lady in Central Park, New York. The teenagers Kharey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Raymond Santana were wrongly convicted since the DNA that was found at the scene of the crime did not have a tie to the five teenagers. The confessions that the teenagers made were coerced, so the police forced the kids to confess to a terrible crime that they didn't commit. Later in 2002, the convictions were overturned after a serial rapist and murderer admitted to the crime that the teenagers were accused of. The families of the Central Park Five made a federal lawsuit in which the families are seeking $50 million each in damages. The Central Park Five case opened the eyes of Americans since it makes us question how efficient the criminal justice system is in the United States.

The Crucible isn't far away from what happened in New York in 1998. In Salem, Massachusetts the witch trials were happening. In these trials, many people were convicted of being witches. When they were convicted, they were hanged. Many innocent people died because of the massive hysteria that was going on in Salem. Also, some people had a hidden agenda like Thomas Putnam used the witch trials in his favor to increase his wealth and land. The Central Park Five weren't killed but they spent most of their life away from their friends and family. These events have similarities because when the government found out that they were wrong, they started to pay money to the families of the victims but money doesn't bring back time or the families' loved ones.

The irrationality of the world towards "not-normal" things.----Amaia De Jesús 11-Franklin

amaiadejesus — 2022-09-13 14:07:00 UTC

In 1989 five teens were wrongly accused of murder because they were Latino and black, even though they didn't commit the murder, they were forced to confess to it. After being in prison for years, they were finally liberated from the wrong accusations and sentences. Similar to the Central park five, some of the characters in the Crucible that were wrongly accused of being witches were killed or forced to confess to something they didn't do, just because the people were so afraid of something "ungodly" they decided to start pointing out every little detail they could to get a person wrongly convicted. In both cases, because of the irrational fear of the people in the world towards things they simply don't "like", all of the accused people were forced to pay the consequences for things they never did.
Like the editorial said "It can take decades — or even longer — before the crazed irrationality of a particular episode shows itself for what it was".

Mass Hysteria today.

acelafigueroa1 — 2022-09-13 14:17:53 UTC

The article tells the story of five guys who were accused of assault, 🤬, sexual abuse and attempted murder. They were indicted in 1989 without having been guilty of any of these charges. Trisha Meili was raped and beaten while she was on her night time run. When she was found the next morning she got taken to the hospital and spend 12 days in a coma and didn't remember anything. There were more than a dozen suspects and five of them were between the ages of 14-16. In other words they were an easy scape jut like when Tituba had to name names and had an easy scape. In comparison The Crucible a novel written by Arthur Miller that talks about the Salem witch trials is similar to this story since in both the accused are wrongfully accused and the guilty are let free. The people accused in both stories are profiled as "savages", "animals". Both times the lack of evidence is not made important when it should be since it's what a trial is based on. The Central Park Five lost more than a decade in prison while having been innocent, in The Crucible the lost their lives while having been innocent.

The central Part 5 and the Crucible

luisvicenty — 2022-09-13 14:24:35 UTC

The Central Park five was a case back in the late 80's early 90's that was about 5 teens, 14-16, going to jail for a crime they did not commit. In the Crucible, the first two convicted of witchcraft were Sarah Good and Goody Osburn. They were convicted when Tituba was being pressured to give the names of witches in the town. The names were a easy go to because they were given to her. The 5 teens were also a easy target/ go to for the crime. The teens were convicted of the crimes after being interrogated for hours. In those interrogations, the teens were pressured by investigators into giving false statements. One of the teens later came out to say that they deprived him and the other teens of food, drink and sleep in those rooms. In the beginning of act 3 we see that Judge Hathorne tricks Martha Corey into confessing that she’s a witch. The investigators did the same thing to the teens. This picture was in the ad part of newspapers and was in all the major cities. The ad created vengeance for most people against gangs of out-of-control black and Latino boys from poor communities being guilty. People were starting to accuse almost anyone because of their hair or eye color/ easy to target.

The Central Park Five and Mass Hysteria

AlexGonzalezLopez1 — 2022-09-13 14:26:38 UTC

When you analyze the case of the Central Park Five and the events that occurred in The Crucible, you can observe that they have a reoccurring theme. This theme is mass hysteria and the avid search for a scapegoat. The case of the Central Park Five is a sordid and unfortunate case in which five black and Hispanic teenagers are wrongly convicted with the beating and 🤬 of a young, white jogger in Central Park in the spring of 1989. The five teenagers, aged 14 to 16, were convicted based on confessions they assert were coerced in what the article described as "the crime of the century." Because of the tough times New York was going through, the law system felt that they didn't need to make bad times rougher. As a result, when they came across the five teenagers, they made the decision to utilize them as the ideal scapegoat for their issues. Fortunately, the convictions were overturned in 2002 after a serial rapist and murderer who had staged a similar attack in the park just 48 hours before the incident with the jogger came forward to admit his crime. Regardless, overturning their convictions does not erase the time and joy that they missed out on because of the faulty and biased decision of the police and the legal system.

The characters in The Crucible suffered a similar plight. The mass hysteria in Salem, created by rumors of witchcraft, caused people to wrongfully accuse and, essentially, murder people because they thought they saw signs of them using witchcraft. How Abigail and her crew wrongfully accused people left and right of being witches can be compared to how the five teens were accused of being r***sts, just for being in Central Park. Another similarity can be seen in the way that the accused would be interrogated and made to confess crimes they didn't commit, since both were subjected to "coercive and deceptive interrogation techniques, including force and trickery, sleep deprivation and isolation from their families.". The way that the accused of being witches were basically being put to hang just for being suspected can also be compared to how the five who were charged with the jogger case were, as quoted by the article, "depicted as “animals,” “savages” and especially “wolves” as they headed to convictions that were almost assured before the first juror was called.".

The Central Park Five just a glimpse of the present

milkacarbonell — 2022-09-15 01:37:42 UTC

The New York Times article talks about a case called “The Central Park Five”. This is the case of five Black and Hispanic teenagers Kharey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana, that were accused of raping and beating a white woman, Trisha Meili in 1989. These teenagers were wrongly accused and convicted, as they didn't commit the crime, but they were obligated to confess as guilty. Even though not DNA of the teenagers were found, they are found guilty. Then in 2002 the convictions were overturned after the real culprit stepped forward to admit his crime, saying that he had acted alone. The teenagers that lost their youth in prison because of a crime they didn't commit, were victims of hurtful comments that no matter how much time has passed, they will never forget because they were judged on a decision by the verdict of the American system. The one who didn't care if they were really guilty or not, the one that just wanted to look for someone to blame. “The five who were charged with the jogger case were depicted as “animals,” “savages” and especially “wolves” as they headed to convictions that were almost assured before the first juror was called.”

In The Crucible, they were also people accused without any evidence, but still were found guilty. Many of them died, others were torture, again without any evidence. All ll because of the hysteria that this kind of situations create to the society. Another example is when Marry Warren was going to confess that she was faking everything because the though she saw spirits, then the group of girls and Abigail make her look guilty acting as she was throwing spirits to them. This caused that Marry Warren dint say the truth and blame John Proctor.

Andres Guerra - 11 - Hypatia - Central Park Five

andresguerra1 — 2022-10-02 03:07:20 UTC

In the year 1989, a female jogger named Trisha Meili was running in central park. While running, Trisha was assaulted by a man and raped, this resulted in her getting into a coma for 12 days. The first police to get into the scene said that she was beaten very badly, and it seems that she was tortured. At first doctors didn't think she would survive because of her injuries, but after she survived, she spent 6 months in rehabilitation and at first, she couldn't talk, read or walk.

The police investigated the case and couldn't find the perpetrator. After a number of suspects, pressure from the media and the public and a dire reputation they gave in. The police decided to arrest and send to trial 5 unrelated suspects that were from African American and Latin descent. The trials were rigged since the police decided that the innocent suspects would go to jail even though they didn't have a lot of evidence that supported the police claims. The results of the trials were that the 5 suspects were sent to prison with sentences ranging from 5 - 15 years. After years in prison, the charges were dropped because the real perpetrator confessed to the crime and the evidence matched his confession. The city of New York reached for a settlement of
$41 million with the five men for emotional distress and racial discrimination, but the men filed a lawsuit for another $51 million.

The similarity between both stories are very strong. On both of the situations, the convicted pleaded guilty to have a lesser charge or have the charges lifted. In The Crucible people were blamed so other people could benefit their hidden agenda and people confessed so they wouldn't be executed. For example, John Proctor confessed to "his" crimes although he didn't commit it to be allowed to be free again (although, Proctor broke his confession to maintain his name clean and was later executed). In the Central Park Five situation, the suspects confessed because the police cornered them and forced them to confess so the police could clean their name and reputation.

Elizabeth: And yet you’ve not confessed till now. That speak goodness in you.

Proctor: Spite only keeps me silent. It is hard to give a lie to dogs.

Natalia Dutton 11-Hypatia

2022-10-09 00:16:20 UTC

“Animals, savages, and wolf pack”, were the exact words the public used to dehumanize five teenage boys for a crime they didn’t commit. In 1989 five Black and Hispanic teenage boys were convicted of raping a young white jogger in Central Park. Nevertheless, in 2002 a serial murderer and rapist came forward about his crimes and claimed he acted alone. When the boys were taken in by police they were interrogated and told they would be let go if they were to admit to the crime. Fourteen-year-old Raymond Santana falsely confessed to a crime he didn’t do to satisfy the police and because he was told he would be let go. As for Khary Wise, who was in special education, didn’t have the mental abilities of a sixteen-year-old. He became overwhelmed when showed the injuries of the victim. The mayor of New York City, Ed Koch, described it as “the crime of the century”. Comparing this real-life situation with The Crucible we can see how the justice system targets a specific group of people to blame for a situation they have no other explanation for. Just as in the play, they were told by authorities they would be let go if they confess to the “truth”, in other words, say what they jury wanted to hear. Both cases led to sad consequences, the teenagers lost most of their lives in prison. In The Crucible many were hanged and murdered.