The crime and the cover-up, we see it all over T.V. shows and movies nowadays. Likewise, in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, people, out of fear, shame, or pride will perpetuate and defend their mistakes. In The Crucible, many of the young girls in their puritan society begin to accuse other members of the town of witchcraft. The town nearly loses its sanity as more and more people begin to lie and cover their tracks. This theme is illustrated through the surreptitiousness of the judges, Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail Williams. Firstly, the judges of the Salem Witch Trials attempted to conceal their mistakes. This can be seen in how they try to convince John Proctor to admit to witchcraft in order to prove that the convictions have not been false. The townspeople are becoming leery of the fact that such upstanding members of their society have been accused. Reverend Parris even states, "Rebecca Nurse is no Bridget that lived three year with Bishop before she married him. John Proctor is not Isaac Ward …show more content…
One important way is when she blames Tituba for making her drink the chicken blood. Though the dancing in the woods was harmless, in Puritan times it would have been considered to be sinful. Abigail defends herself by saying "She made me do it! She made Betty do it!" (Miller 1260). She wants to remain a good woman in their society. She can't afford to have her name ruined in the town. Another way that she attempted to cover up her mistake was by claiming to see other women of the town with the Devil. She told the town there were many other members of the town with her. The town was especially taken back when Abigail said, "I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!" (Miller 1262). She accused many other members of the society in order to take the heat off of her self. The town forgot about her mistakes, and focused on the other "witches" in the
The Crux of The Crucible In life there aren 't many things that are certain. The one thing that you can always count on is the ever precedent flaws of man. The characters, and the actual people they are designed after, in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, show us what we as humans are like at our worst. Miller, creator of the movie and play, “The Crucible” made a story based on the true events of what happened in Salem during the years of 1692 to 1693. The book follows a set of about five characters.
This is a Puritan village so people that do this are not labeled eccentric; they are labeled witches and killed. Abigail has always been afraid of getting caught since the beginning of the play. To defend herself she starts the finger pointing at everyone else besides the ones who deserve it, which in this case is no one. Abigail was not to careful and this whole thing starts to come tumbling down on her which it almost does. It doesn't take long before John Proctor and a few other sane people are on to her.
She confessed and lied about what she did. “She tried but I refused, I never sold myself, I am a good girl, I am proper girl.” Abigail is no where close to being good.
Abigail knows the impeccably high standards of the Puritan society and the brutal punishment that would come if one did conspire with the devil, yet she puts Tituba into this situation. Later, she proves herself even more wicked by silently watching the agony she bestowed upon innocent Tituba. Not only did this accusation deeply injure an innocent woman, but it allowed for the beginnings of the chaotic, devastating witch hunt. Instead of confessing and stopping dozens of people from dying, Abigail continued to agitate the situation by claiming to be bewitched by multiple people. For example, “ The wings!
He declares that Proctor makes attempts to overthrow the court. He states that Proctor plows on Sundays, does not go to church regularly, he rips the warrant, and never baptized
She threw people into the mud so she could stay out of blame, she has no regard for others and how her actions would affect them. In Act One, Abigail and others were caught dancing which was punishable by whipping, and rather than being whipped, a little penalty, the girls twisted the story into eventually blaming another for their actions and causing hysteria in the village by announcing wichcraft. She led people to believe she was a victim rather than take responsibility for a small misdoing. Abigail also blames John Proctor's wife, Elizabeth for trying to sabotage her name. Abigail doesn't care what strain she has put on the Proctor’s
The girls in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible lied about the elders in Salem resulting in the excommunicating and deaths of several of the townspeople. Teenaged girls still lie about adults and adults’ lives are still ruined by the lies. Universally, one of teenagers favorite targets to lie about is teachers and coaches. They lie about grades, about bullying teachers, about homework, and about the abuse from coaches and all the lies end up costing the teacher, not the teens. The girls in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible lied about the elders in Salem resulting in the excommunicating and deaths of several of the townspeople.
The Crucible is a play with themes largely applicable to major current events of today. The matters that we face as a society that are featured in this book are: discrimination in the court system, what is a lie, and the freedom to criticize our government. Discrimination in America’s legal system was rampant in the early 1690s and, I would argue, is still as rampant, but much more subtle. In the Salem witch trials, there were three accused witches originally. All three of these accused witches were social outcasts, although they were targeted for very separate reasons.
She accused Elizabeth of being a witch hoping she would be hanged in order to have John come back to her. She also set up Mary Warren using the doll she helped her make by sticking a needle through it. All of this started out with false accusations by Abigail, and people believed her because they were
Even though the other girls are intimidated by her, Betty is not afraid. She continues to maintain her power by naming someone else who works for the Devil. She sits up in bed and tells everyone in the room “[she] saw George Jacobs with the Devil! [she] saw Goody Howe with the Devil!” (48).
This disgusting behavior seen today is also seen in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The Crucible is the story of a young Puritan woman in 1692 Massachusetts who made false witchcraft accusations in an attempt to save her life and to end a rival’s life. While her actions are horrific and the cause of numerous deaths, the actions of the adults around her that enabled her lies to cost lives are despicable. Through his dishonest characters, specifically Reverend Parris, Judge Danforth, and John Proctor, Miller exposes the evils of lying to save one’s name and the destruction that inevitably ensues.
Tibuta, Tibuta…” (Miller 40) All eyes turn from Abigail to Tibuta, the household slave. As a final statement to convince the others she is innocent, Abigail yells hysterically, “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!”
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.
She caused proctor to cheat on his wife and then eventually causes Proctor to die. And she and other girls had to go to court because they lied about doing the witchcraft. She cannot excuse or pardoned because the outside forces “made” her the way she is because the forces are not going to change her. If Abigail wouldn’t of danced in the woods then she wouldn’t of caused the bad things to happen.
(64-65) Proctor is nervous about going in front of the court and defying everything that has been said about the matter previously. No one can blame him, even Hale, when told alone, doesn’t believe him. Another thing that John Proctor fears is his name being blackened with lies. When he is about to sign over his dignity and falsely