In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, reputation plays a major role in the lives of the Salem community. Many innocent people gave up their lives so as to not spoil their reputation. John Proctor states, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” This quote reveals the significance, to the Salem community, of maintaining a pure reputation. However, reputation remains unimportant. Reputation revolves around perceptions of one’s actions, the underlying motives remain unknown. Egotistical, spiteful people can negatively change the reputation of others without any basis. Reputation remains crucial to the Puritan people, many high school students, and others in society, but not to me. Reputation maintains importance in society, yet personally, reputation remains insignificant. Many people hold their reputation in high regard, but no one ever knows the true thoughts of others or the intentions behind their actions. Lies, hateful individuals, drama, and misunderstandings can mar reputations. For example, the reputation of Rebecca Nurse, Martha Corey and Mary Easty, three covenanted Christian women, remains demolished as a result of …show more content…
In the play, reputation remains a crucial part of the character’s lives, yet reputations may consist only of perceptions and opinions. A notion potentially based on pure misconception should not carry such importance. Worse than misconceptions, dishonesty or deflection from one’s own actions could intentionally ruin another’s reputation. In The Crucible, the intentional deflection of one young girl’s actions led to widespread devastation in the community. No one should suffer criticism or worse yet, lose their life due to a reputation, a potentially absurd