Examples Of Deceit In The Crucible

to Abigail and part of him still wants to be with her. But John is not

At the end of the play, Proctor is in jail about to be hanged unless he confesses to witchcraft. Ultimately he decides not to confess saying “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang!

In Act I Abigail says to Betty, "I talked to your papa and I told him everything." This line like the many others spoken by Abigail is a lie and is spoken with the intent of manipulating another character into doing something that will somehow benefit her. In his play, "The Crucible," Arthur Miller uses the character of Abigail Williams to exemplify the theme of deceit. This play is set in Salem, Massachusetts, in a time period when villagers were prone to accusing each other of witchcraft in order to save themselves from being hanged. Hence, a major theme in this play is deceit.

As John Proctor is facing death, he realizes what he has done is wrong. John Proctor decides to confess to the court of his affair with Abigail, after confessing to

Abigail proclaims her guilt by revealing her character and purpose. She is mad in love with John Proctor, and attempts to sway his feelings for her. She speaks to him with a brimming passion, and even cries for his attention (Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Act I, 21,22). Even though Proctor is a married man, she strives to make him fall in love with her. Proctor’s wife Elizabeth asserts that, “...She (Abigail) cannot pass you in church but you will blush” and she believes he blushes, feeling the guilt of being too close to Abigail while she is beside him (Act II, 58,59). Abigail’s conduct is improper and shows her obvious guilt.

Throughout the play, Proctor struggles with his honor as he changes from viewing it as his reputation to believing it is based on his own private moral of truth. The isolated Puritan community in which Proctor lives forces him to try and achieve a pious and perfect lifestyle, which ultimately pressures him into lying about his affair with Abigail in order to maintain a good reputation. This view changes in the courtroom, when Proctor becomes extremely frustrated with the lies and deceit that Abigail is telling the judges, Proctor screams in anger, “I beg you sir, I beg you - see her what she is… She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me; I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a

Proctor’s ability to see through the delirious state of the town enables him to stand up for his newly self-defined meaning of justice. Proctor is introduced to the reader as a well respected man, who “had a sharp and biting way with hypocrites… in Proctor’s presence a fool felt his foolishness instantly”(Miller 20). This description of Proctor foreshadows his stance on the events that happen later in the book, Proctor’s “way with hypocrites” allows him to point out the dishonesty and deceitfulness of certain town members, especially Abigail Williams. Proctor’s realization of the atrocities of Abigail’s accusation prompts him to question the authority of the town. For example , Proctor points out to

“If you will have it so, so I will tell it!” (Miller 142). Abigail is threatening him but all he cares about is freeing his wife and proving good to her. “I have three children- how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?” (Miller 132). John does not want to live if he is not fulfilling who he wanted to be as a man. He believes it is better for his family to remember him as an honorable man who died for them, rather than live knowing that he failed them and himself. He must lead by example. “You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor” (Miller 133). Proctor knows what he decided is the right thing to do, and he feels at peace with himself now. He set an example to follow for not only his children, but the corrupted adults and leaders causing unneeded murders.

Dishonesty can be from cheating on your wife to falsely accusing people of corrupt behavior. That is exactly what is portrayed in The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. Everything that is done in the dark eventually comes into the light. Beware of keeping secrets and hiding from the truth. In Salem, Virginia they do everything but that.

The Crucible In the 1958 “The Crucible’’ there’s plenty of different universal themes that apply to everyone. But a very common and consecutive theme that re-occurs several times in The Crucible is “Lies and Deceit.” For a God following village there sure is a lot of lying and deceiving. One of the main examples of this theme would be Abigail.

proctor, being seen as an honorable man, says to the judge “they’re gulling you mister” because he

Throughout the play it becomes apparent that Proctor hates the lies he has told, seeks to protect the truth

“The greater the lie, the easier to believe it.” That quote was said by one of the greatest liars in the 1900s, Adolf Hitler. He was a talented speaker who was practiced at weaving lies. He lied to his people about what he was doing and to the people he was hurting. His actions caused the biggest genocide this world has ever known. Hitler indirectly killed over 10,000,000 people. His words and actions were very similar to the character Abigail Williams in the book The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the year 1692. The book starts off with a group of girls dancing in the woods who are contacting spirits. The girls get caught and start to accuse other people in the town

meet John Proctor as he is telling Abigail that he will no longer continue the affair: ''Abby, you'll put it

Despite the reality of his inner ignominy and remorse, he still fathoms how exceedingly essential guarding one's standing in Puritan society is. Due to this, and his own reluctance to admit his shame, he has a difficult time bringing himself to court. Which, part of that may have been the fact that he was troubled that they would not believe it had anything to do with his shame— That the people Abigail and the girls were accusing had little to do with his household and their shared sin. Proctor also has great respect for his honor, though he notes he deems himself with little, he yearns to redeem himself, and refuse to tell his lie at the end. He understands he will be shunned, whispered about, and perhaps laughed at for the rest of his life.