Examples Of Dualism In The Crucible

Gratifying Destruction: The Dualism of Ambition

Ambition is a release from our own passivity. The drive to achieve that it instills within us delivers us from the wretchedness that is to be left wanting, and waiting. Innately, it is a life-giver; a breath of fresh air for us to breathe. Sometimes, however, it propels us to blindly siphon out the air resting in another’s lungs, our will to secure what we desire so strong that it hinders us from recognizing how others can become casualties in our pursuit. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, it is explored how the pursuit of one’s ambition can drive an individual to gratification. However, if the individual pursues their ambition without regard for the wellbeing of others, they may condemn

John begins his quest of seeking “goodness” within himself by standing against Abigail Williams and her supporters in court. He is fueled by a want for atonement after his affair with Abigail. Although at the beginning of the play he has no way to pursue it, this desire manifests as an ambition to align with “his own vision of decent conduct” (pg. 20), meaning to prove to himself that there is still good within him. To John, goodness is defined as an unhypocritical character; a person who practices the Christian morality they preach. The manifestation of this ambition without proper means of its pursual leaves him feeling as if he is some “kind of a fraud” (pg. 21). However, this changes with Elizabeth Proctor’s arrest. Because John is of the opinion that Elizabeth is a good person, he maintains the belief that by standing against the injustice that is her arrest, he will have done the morally correct thing. In doing so, he will have achieved his goal, since only someone who is of decent character would speak against a wrong, and see it fixed. Elizabeth was also the most wronged by John’s affair with Abigail. In saving

Because of this, he consigns them to a future of suffering. The prominence he has as a respected figure in town is well known to all in the play, to the point where Parris professes that John’s signed confession “‘will strike the village’” (pg. 141). In this, it is evident that Parris is aware that if John confesses, others will follow. The townspeople of Salem have the overall impression of John Proctor as a good man, and if he were to confess to a sin such as witchcraft, it is likely that the townspeople would look more scrutinously towards the doings of the court. Propriety of the court may be brought under further investigation, fueled by John’s confession and the rumors of rebellion in Andover. Though it can not concretely be said that John’s confession would bring forth this course of action, his position in the town, and the town’s growing discontent with the court, is indicative of its strong possibility. If these events were to pass, the likelihood of the accused being let off due to the dissolution of the court, brought upon by the townspeople of Salem, would be significant. The reputations of the accused, living and dead, confessed and mute, would be restored. Nonetheless, these events never come to pass. John’s declination of signing the confession ensures this, and it brings upon him his own death, as well as that of