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Examples Of Abigail Williams In The Crucible

Decent Essays

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the Salem witch trials were a time where a wave of hysteria broke loose. During this time “….Christians, and those of other religions, had a strong belief that the Devil could give certain people known as witches the power to harm others in return for their loyalty”(Blumberg). Being involved in any witchcraft was a huge sin, and people began to take advantage of others. Numerous innocent people became accused of being witches or were involved with witchcraft due to rumors that children spread around the village. With the girls' statements, many had to admit to the false accusations. The ones who stayed silent and didn't lie are sentenced to hang. From these allegations, it ended nineteen lives. While several characters are to blame, the most responsible for this chaos is Abigail Williams.
Abigail is a compulsive liar. When Mr. Parris questions Abigail on what he witnessed the other day in the woods, she states, “Uncle, we did dance: let you tell them I confessed it - and I’ll be whipped if I must be”(Miller 8). In this quote, Abigail lies to her uncle to hide the truth from him. However, it's evident that Mr. Parris isn’t convinced that the girls only participated in dancing when he states "I fought here three longs years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character"(Miller 11). According to Mr. Parris, his niece's actions will ruin his

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