Straw Man Fallacy

A straw man fallacy in which an opponent’s argument is overstated or misrepresented in order to be more easily attacked or refuted. The straw man fallacy happens quite a bit in “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, but especially in on page 211 in the 4th column which reads, “(Procter): I have no love Mr. Parris. It is no secret. But God I surely love. (Cheever): He plow on Sunday, sir. (Danforth): Plow on Sunday! (Cheever): I think it be evidence, John. I am an official of the court, I cannot keep it. (Procter): I have once or twice plowed on Sunday. I have 3 children, sir, and until last year my land gave little.” This is a correct representation of the straw man fallacy because Ezekiel Cheever is trying to over exaggerate the fact that John Procter has plowed on Sundays and Cheever is trying to make Procter’s argument that he loves God more unbelievable.

To begin with, the quote from “The Crucible” is a correct representation of the straw man fallacy because Ezekiel Cheever is trying to over exaggerate the fact that John Procter has plowed on Sundays. Cheever brings up plowing on Sundays to make the issue larger involving religion. By bringing up religion, it makes the issue a bigger deal than it actually is. In typical straw man fallacy incidents the exaggeration of a person’s statement is customary in that it is used to make the other persons statement weaker and weaker. This happens here in that, Cheever is trying to make the fact that John Procter loves god is crazy because he plows on Sunday, a day in which he should be in church. Furthermore, this quotation from the book is a correct representation of the straw man fallacy because Cheever is trying to make Procter’s argument that he loves god more unbelievable.

Procter and Cheever are arguing over Procter’s credibility and innocence in court. Cheever, by bring up plowing on Sundays, is endeavoring to make John’s argument of loving God crumble in on itself. John Procter loving God is a big deal because in the Puritan society if you did not love God you would be either hanged or expelled from the society. So by Cheever making Johns argument of loving God more unbelievable he can get John in a ton of trouble. In Conclusion, The straw man fallacy happens on page 211 in the 4th column which says, “(Procter): I have no love Mr. Parris. It is no secret. But God I surely love. (Cheever): He plow on Sunday, sir. (Danforth): Plow on Sunday! (Cheever): I think it be evidence, John. I am an official of the court, I cannot keep it. (Procter): I have once or twice plowed on Sunday. I have 3 children, sir, and until last year my land gave little.” This is a representation of the straw man fallacy because Ezekiel Cheever is trying to over exaggerate the fact that John Procter has plowed on Sundays and Cheever is trying to make Procter’s argument that he loves God more unbelievable.