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The Crucible Characters

Arthur Miller

A teacher walks into a deaf school and finds hell wearing a suit.

Who drives the story

Main characters

Kang In-ho

An art teacher from Seoul who takes a job at a deaf school in Mujin and uncovers systematic abuse. He fights police, doctors, and the town's elite to expose it, is publicly shamed at trial, and leaves Mujin defeated.

Appears in:
Part 1: Arrival in Mujin
Part 2: What the Children Can't Say
Part 3: The Trial and the Town's Verdict
Part 4: Probation and Departure
Themes:
Institutional complicity
The price of speaking truth
Respectability as armor

The principal

A powerful and highly respected figure in Mujin who sexually abuses students. Convicted, he receives only probation and returns to the school.

Appears in:
Part 2: What the Children Can't Say
Part 3: The Trial and the Town's Verdict
Part 4: Probation and Departure
Themes:
Institutional complicity
Respectability as armor

The administrative head and dormitory superintendent

The principal's partners in abuse, holding power over the children's schooling and dormitory life. Both are found guilty, sentenced to probation, and sent back to the school.

Appears in:
Part 2: What the Children Can't Say
Part 4: Probation and Departure

The parents

Financially desperate families of the abused children, pressured and bribed into silence with settlement money. Their acceptance guts the case at its heart.

Appears in:
Part 3: The Trial and the Town's Verdict
Themes:
Poverty as a muzzle

How they are connected

Key relationships

Go deeper

The Crucible themes & symbols

Institutional complicity · The price of speaking truth · Poverty as a muzzle · Respectability as armor

Themes explained

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The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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