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Dishonesty In The Crucible Analysis

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Imagine if today in the law courts, the defendants were always convicted, while all the plaintiffs were always pronounced correct. Many innocent people would be going to prison and serving sentences that they did not deserve! Well that is exactly what went on in Salem, Massachusetts. In The Crucible, there is a large widespread of hysteria due to witchcraft, causing many innocent lives to be taken. All it took was a small group of girls spreading lies about witchcraft to cause chaos throughout Salem, and many other villages. Through multiple characters in this story, Arthur Miller suggests that dishonesty and scapegoating is sometimes more rewarding than honesty. If there is one character who can demonstrate that lying and pointing the finger at others is more rewarding than telling the truth, it is Abigail Williams. Abigail and a group of girls were caught dancing in the forest by Reverend Parris, Abigail’s uncle. Tituba, Parris’s slave, was also there, and it appeared like they were conjuring spirits. A few days after the incident, Abigail was being interrogated by Reverend Hale, a “witch expert”, about what was truly going on. Instead of telling the truth, she pointed straight at Tituba and cried, "She made me do it! (45)”. This is a clear sign of scapegoating, and her dishonesty helped her escape out of a messy situation. As soon as all the eyes are on Abigail and when others are becoming suspicious of her, she points the finger at someone or creates a diversion. In

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