Abigail's Lies In The Crucible

In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shows that truth does not concern the people of Salem; the townspeople are concerned with what they want the truth to be. The idea of witchcraft has plagued Salem, several girls including Tituba and Abigail have confessed to practicing witchcraft. Salem is relying on Abigail and her friends to tell the truth, they do not know that there is no thing as witchcraft. Proctor presents himself to the court to testify against Abigail, the court dose not listen because Danforth and the other court members are concerned with preserving the reputation of the court. While Abigail uses lies to protect her reputation, Proctor uses the truth. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shows that despite the sacrifices that Abigail and

Rumors have spread throughout the town about Abigail, she denies the rumors saying “there be no blush about her name.” (12) Miller uses the word blush to show that Abigail is hiding something under the surface, she knows that she did something wrong but admitting the truth would ruin her already damaged name. Abigail constantly lied to the point where she started to believe her own lies, she could not escape her lies so she ran away. Abigail running away revealed that she lied about witchcraft and several innocent lives were lost to her

Abigail is fearful that the town will find out that she drank blood so she tells the girls that if they say anything “[she] will come to [them] in the black of some terrible night and [she] will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder [them].” (20) Abigail can not risk having the town find out that she attempted to kill Proctors wife so she turns to threatening the girls in order to silence them. When Proctor confessed, he did not falsely accuse his friends or his enemies to make his confession more realistic, he did not need to hurt others like Abigail did. Abigail is concerned with what the entire town thinks of her while Proctor’s concern is what him and his wife think. Proctor turned to his wife for help when he was debating if he should save his life. Proctor wanted Elizabeth’s approval, he wanted to please her. Elizabeth knew Proctor made the right choice when he chose not to sign his name, she did not stop him because “he [has] his goodness now. God forbid [she] take it from him.” (145) Proctor dying gave him the goodness that he strived for, his sacrifice preserved his good name. Arthur Miller shows that good morals lead to a good reputation and that lying to preserve ones reputation does more harm than good. Proctor died a good man because of his morals while Abigail lied to preserve her name but eventually her lies were uncovered and her true nature was revealed. Today, it