The Crucible Lying

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Have you ever been accused of something you didn't do but you could not prove your innocence so you ended up confessing anyway? During the Salem witch Trials more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 19 people were hanged. The Crucible is a play written about these trials and everything that happened. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the claim by John Proctor, “There are them that will swear to anything before they’ll hang” is correctly shown in the book, and the Salem Witch Trials because in both, many people confessed to things that they didn’t do so they would get out of trouble (Hale 69). In the Salem Witch Trials, the claim that people will swear to anything before they’ll hang is supported because during the trials many people …show more content…

In Act III Mary Warren is forced by John Proctor to go to the court and admit she was lying. She turns on him and tells the court he is “The Devil’s man!” (Miller 110). When Mary first went to the court to tell everyone that her and the girls were lying she realizes that either way she will get in a lot of trouble because she lied. Not only would she be in trouble with the law but Abigail and the other girls were very mad at her. She realizes that she can lie and say that Proctor was working with the devil. She confesses that she was forced by Proctor to do things for the Devil and she got out of trouble. This shows how people will lie and confess to things they didn’t do to protect themselves. In the end of the first act, Abigail gets in trouble for doing witchcraft in the woods. She is already facing rumors from Goody Proctor that she was soiled and working with the devil. When she sees Tituba confess and get out of trouble she exclaims “I danced for the devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book” (Miller 45). After Abigail confesses to working for the devil she then goes on to accuse many other people in the town. Tituba, Abigail, and all the other girls make these false confessions and accusations to save themselves and completely get out of trouble. It works for them as none of them get any punishment. To summarize, throughout this book, many people confess to doing something that they did not do to get out of

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