Examples Of Greed In The Crucible

Mason Cooley once said, “Lust and greed are more gullible than innocence”. By this he meant that people are willing to believe the most ludicrous utterances if it means they can benefit from it. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller demonstrates the power of one motivated by lust and greed. Abigail Williams is the antagonist who becomes driven by her libido for the protagonist, John Proctor, and results to drastic measures, with severe consequences regarding the lives of innocent people, in order to win him over. As the side chick, she feels compelled to compete with John’s wife, Elizabeth, and do whatever it takes to rid of her. In addition, Abigail must avoid punishment for dancing naked in the woods in her attempt to kill Elizabeth with

There may have also been some motivation in being fired as the maid and kicked out by Elizabeth. It is probably safe to assume that Abigail seduced John while she was still working in his house. It is understandable that Abigail thinks that she is crazy in love with John, but love and infatuation can feel the same. Although there’s no excuse for adultery, John must have been put in a very distraught situation as he was given attention by a young and beautiful girl while his wife was quite cold towards him and paid him little attention. Everyone wants to feel loved and wanted, it is a mandatory quality that enables us to pursue happiness. As part of human nature, one will not stop at any cost until he or she satisfies his or her need. While doing so, we will try to get hurt as least as possible. For example, after all the chaos of the Salem witch trials is done, Abigail is able to run away from the town unscathed and without any severe consequences to her

When talk of witchcraft first surfaced in Salem, the town went totally ballistic. As word about the girls dancing naked in the woods got out, people were more afraid of the supernatural force more than ever. Some of the girls supposedly became ill and fingers started to point at Abigail. One can put him or herself in Abigail’s shoes and imagine how scared she was. Perhaps she was so freaked out by the thought of being accused of witchcraft that she made bad judgement of decisions, who knows? Either way, the deception and manipulation stacks and stacks until she eventually goes too far to be able to come back; not that it mattered since she knew how credulous the townspeople of Salem were. At one point, Abigail’s word becomes so powerful that she can accuse anyone she doesn’t fancy and the court would believe her. Of course, the accused were stuck in an untenable position because defending themselves was useless against a court that already made up their minds. Eventually, the result of Abigail’s selfish actions led to the death of many good and innocent people. Not only did she commit perjury, but she’s basically a murderer too! The sacrifice that was made in attempt to satisfy one’s lusty desire was definitely not worth