The play 'The Crucible' is set in the doctrinal society of Salem; a community that appeared to be religious but is poisoned by the wickedness of human nature. Such a society thrives on social reputation whilst seating the greatest amount of hypocrisy, intolerance and repression of individualism within it. These malignant manifestations reduces Salem to chaos and every character undergoes personal crucibles wherein their true character is revealed. The theocratic society of Salem pressured it's citizens to adhere to social conformity, regardless of how ludicrous or catastrophic they were. The exercising of individuals logic and personal preferences is disregarded and associated with satanic activity or seen as a defiance against the rule of God. The evidence of this dichotomy is proven when John, a well respected man, has his deposition based on the characters of the three victimized citizens discarded and Danforth replies in turn, 'a person is either with this court or he must be regarded against it'. From this Incident we can deduce that illogical accusations, extreme punishments, …show more content…
The actions of the citizens are motivated by a single common reason: to maintain their respective reputations for without this, they will occupy the positions of social outcasts. Parris fears that the talk about witchcraft surrounding his niece, Abigail, and daughter, will taint his reputation as priest. Also, John has many opportunities to confess his lusted sin but tries in vain to safeguard his reputation. However, his desire to maintain his reputation motivates him to destroy the false statement and cry out in agony ; 'I have given you my soul, leave me my name!'. From the interaction above, we can accept that the need for a respectable reputation was so intense, that proctor chose to give up his life to protect his