Abigail Blame In The Crucible

In society, you should have to conform to what is right in that society. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a historical fiction about the Salem Witch Trials, we follow the town of Salem and their witch hunt in their town. We also follow our main character, John Proctor, and many other characters as they face blame for witchcraft in their town. The person most responsible for the said Witch Trials is Abigail, because the book starts with her and her lies about why they were dancing in the forest in the first place. Instead of owning up to her mistake, she instead places the blame on the people around her, like Tituba and Mary-Warren, for her own selfish gain. If Abigail had owned up in the first place, there wouldn't have been witch trails in

Because of these reasons, she is responsible for the Salem Witch Trials. In the beginning, Abigail and her friends were caught dancing naked in the woods. She herself was suspected of witchcraft, and instead of confessing, she pushed the blame on Tituba, the slave, and everyone believes her when they are on trial. Hale, the priest and the "judge’ in the trial, are continuously asking what happened to Betty and who put her in this state. Abigail continues to push the blame onto Tituba. Abigail states, "I never sold myself! I’m a good girl. I'm a proper girl! She made me do it. She made Betty do it" (Miller 43). This shows that Abigail is lying to the court about what happened and continuously shifting the blame to Tituba when she wasn't involved in the woods at all. As time goes on, people continuously and repeatedly point the blame at others, leading to the Witch Trials. Additionally, during this questioning, she puts even more blame on Tituba by saying that "She comes to make me drink blood" (Miller 44). Because of these lies, other people pressured for Tituba to be hanged, and more fingers were pointed because of Abigail and her lying, and her pretending to be holy is the only thing backing up her claims. This is stated by John Proctor when stating that a "holy" person can lie. This shows how Abigail is responsible for the Witch

Abigail is aware that Mary-Warren is weak and would struggle to defend herself. In the courtroom, Abigail is lying once again for her own gain with Hale and now Danforth, who is also a ‘judge’. In the scene, she pretends to see Mary on the ceiling as a "bird" tormenting her: "Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop; it's God's work I do" (Miller 115). This proves Abigail has no regard for others. She knows fully well that Mary Warren isn't a witch, but she doesn't care. The main goal of the witch trials for her is to get revenge on Elizabeth. Mary-Warren is only a pawn in her plan. As a result of these actions, Mary-Warren is forced to conform to the crimes she didn't commit to save her skin, redo the cycle over again, and blame someone else. Mary Warren states, "pointing at Proctor: You're the devil's man…Abby, I'll never hurt you more" (Miller 118–19). This highlights that people in the village are scared of Abigail and don't want to get on her bad side because they know the consequences that come when she, or anyone else for that matter, points a finger at them. They know that no matter what they say, the person who is preaching God's name will win, and the only other option is to conform to their standards and point the finger at someone else to hope you won't die. This