During the Salem witch trials, 20 lives were taken, 27 people were convicted, while over 100 were imprisoned. Innocent people were falsely accused and some had to lie against their own will to protect others while a majority tried to protect themselves. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials that resulted from the lies told by the people living in Salem. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller demonstrates that lies will oftentimes have consequences.
The main antagonist of the play, Abigail Williams, displayed the consequences due to lying. Reverend Parris, Abigail’s uncle, questioned her about what happened in the woods that led to his daughter, Betty’s, unconsciousness. Along with Parris, Reverend John Hale also questioned Abigail, who immediately
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This is shown by Reverend Parris. He is afraid that if he is associated with witches, people will try to take over his power. During a conversation between Proctor, Parris and Danforth, Parris defended himself by saying that “I do not, sir, but I never saw any of them naked” (Miller 1146). In the beginning of the play, Parris admitted to Abigail that he saw a girl running around naked. The reason for him to lie was to keep his power as a reverend. Abigail, his niece who lives with him, was accused by Mary of lying about witches. If Abigail is guilty of lying to the court, then Parris would also have to take responsibility for her and lose his power as reverend for harboring a girl who had started and caused the death of many people. In order to remain a reverend and a person with high power, he lied to avoid any suspicion towards Abigail. Unknowingly, his lie also contributed to the witch trials in Salem and for the number of people that were hanged. In the end, he feared that if the trials continued, revolts would occur. Parris felt guilty but by the time that it took for him to recognize his guilt, many lives had already been killed and there was no other way to save