Examples Of Evil In The Crucible

In the novel The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a group of teenage girls from the town of Salem, Massachusetts accused many innocent people of witchcraft for their own agenda. Each person had their own secrets and obstacles that they were each trying to overcome. One person in example, had a moral obstacle; to become a good man and fix his wrong doings throughout the play.

In the beginning of the play John spent most of his time trying to regain Elizabeth’s trust back due to an exposed affair with Abigail. Abigail was their servant but Elizabeth fired her after she learned about the affair. “She's blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me!”(23-24). Elizabeth began telling rumors about Abigail in the village because

Elizabeth begged him to go tell the court that the girls were lying and that all the people are innocent but John won’t because he still cares for Abigail and risks the chance of his secret becoming exploited, thus blackening his name. But once Elizabeth and his friends are beginning to be accused of witchcraft, Proctor decided to attempt to prove they were all innocent using Mary Warren. John and Mary Warren told the court that the girls were lying about the alleged witches, but the court doesn’t believe them. “Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers? I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem… Vengeance is walking Salem.”(77) When John realizes the court still won’t believe him, he tried to do one last thing to help his friends. “I have known her, sir. I have known her.”(110) His final attempt to save his friends invoved exposing himself and admitted he committed lechery, which was against the law. When John told the court he had an affair with her they tried to say he was lying about having one with her. “I have made a bell of my honor! I have rung the doom of my good name.”(111) John ruined his good name to protect his friends but it all came down to Elizabeth telling the truth to the court and she lied to the court to protect John, which eventually led to his

Since Mary Warren accused him of witchcraft, and the court believed he lied about having an affair with Abigail, he was sent to jail. Abigail had no idea Mary Warren was going to accuse him and she was getting ready to flee the town of Salem. Abigail stole all of Paris’s money and visited John Proctor before she left so she could ask him to go with her. John told Abigail that he wasn’t going to go with her. The next day the court sent Elizabeth to go try to get him to confess to witchcraft. “I want my life!”(137). John confessed to witchcraft so he could save his own life and his friends lives but by confessing it causes the others to look at him differently. John wasn’t sure if he could live with people seeing him differently especially not his own children. He confessed and when he was confessing they wanted him to write it down on a piece of paper. “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.”(143) Proctor was given many opportunities to save himself and not be hung, but he knew that if he admitted to something he didn't do, he would be living for the wrong reason. He was in front of the whole town of Salem and right before they set to hang him, he and his