Examples Of Reputation In The Crucible

Prevalence of Reputation in The Crucible

In the words of famous business owner Warren Buffett, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.” The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a play that portrays the Salem Witch Trials as an allegory for the Red Scare. During The Crucible, Betty and others accused part of the population in Salem, Massachusetts of witchcraft. This causes many characters to act out of line and no longer use discernment in their actions. Throughout the play, Miller illustrates different themes as a motive as to why different characters may be acting the way they are. One of the main themes Miller portrays in his writing is how these characters act

After Parris finds his daughter and others participating in a strange dance in the woods his daughter, Betty, mysteriously falls ill. Succeeding this, Parris is with his niece, Abby, telling her, “if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it” (Miller 10). Parris proceeds to show no sorrow for his daughter and only cares about what the town will think of him. This event gives insight into how Parris is more worried about losing his job and ruining his reputation, of being a strong and morally right leader, rather than losing his daughter. Eventually, though Parris is voted out of office succumbing to his

After the madness of witchcraft is spread around the town, false accusations are thrown out in a court setting. Elizabeth encourages John to travel to the court and denounce what Abigail is spreading around the town. He knows what she is doing is to preserve her reputation. However, he has no witness to back up everything she said, due to them being alone. This strikes Elizabeth as uneasy, due to John and Abigail having an affair, and she begins to question John's loyalty. John outraged, screams at Elizabeth to not “judge me more, Elizabeth. I have good reason to think before I charge fraud on Abigail, and I will think on it” (Miller 57). John knows that if he goes to the court that Abigail will ruin his reputation and tell everyone how he disobeyed one of the commandments and committed adultery. John ends up refusing to tell the court as he can not bear the thought of being seen differently. When Elizabeth is accused of witchcraft, John finally decides to ruin his reputation, as it is worth saving his wife. However, John is too late, as Elizabeth and his stories do not match. John has to live with the consequences of his actions, ultimately getting hanged. John does this all for the reason that he was too fearful to let his reputation be put at