Deception In The Crucible, By Arthur Miller

A single mistake can wholly compromise an individual’s ability to accomplish their dreams. Hillary Clinton’s blunder in handling the United States’ confidential emails could very well have cost her the presidency. Knowing the possible consequences if the truth of the situation was released, she fabricated lies in hopes of maintaining her political power. Similarly, throughout both The Scarlet Letter, a fiction novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Arthur Miller’s historical fiction play, The Crucible, people are willing to go to great lengths in order to maintain their statuses. Transpiring in 17th century New England, The Scarlet Letter follows a woman by the name of Hester Prynne who endures unrelenting ignominy after giving birth to

In The Scarlet Letter, the strictly Puritan townspeople of Boston view sin as the ultimate and most irredeemable offense. Arthur Dimmesdale, a highly revered minister among the people of Boston, refrains from confessing his adultery to the public for the entirety of seven years. Throughout this expanse of time, Dimmesdale rises to the ministerial pulpit on hundreds of occasions to tell “his hearers that he was altogether vile, a viler companion of the vilest, the worst of sinners, an abomination, a thing of unimaginable iniquity,” but on each occasion, he refuses to fully disclose the details of the sin he has committed (Hawthorne 99). Dimmesdale omits this aspect, fearing that the truth of his adultery will irreversibly destroy the public’s view of his character and his status as minister. Upon the revelation of the scandalous truth, his entire congregation could turn away from him, leading Dimmesdale to withhold the details in hopes maintaining his following. Just like Reverend Dimmesdale, people often intentionally reveal only part of the truth in order to prevent information that is detrimental to their reputations from surfacing. As a result, when shameful scandals arise, people choose to leave out information which could label them as reprobate, dishonest, or reprehensible in the eyes

In The Crucible, Reverend Parris confronts his niece after the girls are caught dancing in the midnight woods, insisting that he saw them running naked through the trees (Miller 10). As the events escalate and the court becomes involved, John Proctor, a man affected by the grave accusations of the girls, reveals that they were dancing naked in the forest, and Parris blatantly lies in response, asserting to Danforth that “I can only say, sir, that I never found any of them naked” (Miller 97). Parris dreads that the truth of his niece’s participation in the dancing and nudity could permanently damage his hard-earned image as minister. Constantly fearing that he is criticized and persecuted in all aspects of life, Reverend Parris lies in order to preserve his high position in Salem’s society. In order to maintain status, people who want to stay in power will often take any measures they deem necessary. Society is often unyielding after making a judgement on the character of a person, and it is extremely difficult for an individual to recover the image they have lost and change the way that the public views them. After being branded with such a negative characteristic in the eyes of many, it becomes nearly impossible for one’s reputation to be regained. With no apparent way to elicit forgiveness from society, deceit becomes the only