Comparison Of Integrity In The Crucible And The Scarlet Letter

Integrity in The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter

People around the world tend to deal with their mistakes in their own way and can lead to unforeseen consequences. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Arthur Miller use symbolism, imagery and ithe experiences of Arthur Dimmesdale and John Proctor in The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter to express the concept of integrity and how when people go against their principles/morals and attempt to deal with them, they and the people around them might suffer the consequences.

One can see that both John Proctor and Arthur Dimmesdale suffer internally from the actions they committed. Proctor committed a cardinal sin and one can see that throughout the story, there was some conflict within himself. Proctor is a man

Proctor has been faltering from confessing because he was seen as somewhat of a role model. If someone were to hold the same position as Proctor does in their community, it would be daunting to have such a secret. If any word of that secret gets out, his reputation would be immediately demolished because people who are higher up on the social ladder are held at a higher standard than your average person. Proctor’s conflict looks tame compared to that of Arthur Dimmesdale. Like Proctor, Dimmesdale held influence and power in his community and was highly respected. However, their conflicts were marginally different. Dimmesdale suffered both internally and externally. His thoughts were plagued with visions of Hester and Pearl which scared him to death. Dimmesdale also considered using physical pain as a path to relief. When the author describes the effects of the “inward trouble”(Hawthorne 175) that Dimmesdale was experiencing, he talks about how “In Mr. Dimmesdale’s secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge”(Hawthorne 175). The “scourge” is referring to the whip he uses in order to “purify the body”. Dimmesdale is a person who believes in inflicting pain in order to amend for his sins. Moreover, when Dimmesdale is on the scaffold

In The Crucible, Miller fully displays how the actions of John Proctor really affected the lives of the people around him. His affair with Abigail reveals to be potent to the people around him. Because of Abigail’s desires for Proctor to leave Elizabeth because she questions “how such a strong man may let such a sickly [woman] be [his wife]”(Miller 23). She insults Proctor’s wife as a way to blacken the image of Elizabeth in Proctor’s mind but it seems to have the opposite effect as Proctor yells that [She’ll] speak nothin’ of Elizabeth!(Miller 23). This all leads to Elizabeth still playing along with the pretense of witchcraft and finally accusing Elizabeth herself in a devious plan. She stabs herself and blames Elizabeth in order to get her arrested and Proctor to herself. The idea stemmed when Mary Warren was making her poppet, “Abby sat beside [her] when [she] made it.” (Miller 76). This shows that Abigail’s idea was conjured up at this moment and she is later found stabbed in the same spot as the needle was on the doll. One can say that Abigail is a vengeful woman simply because of her lust. She exploits the calamity which gave rise to the witch trials. Her jealousy of Elizabeth overcomes her and it drives her to do unforgivable things. Abigail is a smart woman who has calculated the odds in order to get what she wishes for. She takes advantage of the