Examples Of The Seven Deadly Sins In The Crucible

The seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. There’s a reason they're called deadly, as when humans succumb to these, often the only result is death. Humans are all born with certain expectations as they grow up; however, does our society fully shape who we will or should be? Or do our human tendencies take over and lead us through to our ultimate victory or demise? Although Puritan society places strong emphasis on acting morally and spiritually righteous, the instinctive nature of human self preservation emerges through the involvement of temptations such as lust and pride, even in a community of strict catholics.

Lust, greed, wrath, and envy, Abigail Williams marks off 4 out of 7 in the checklist of sins.

Lust and pride because honestly, our bodies just can’t help itself. In the play, Miller uses the character John Proctor to show just how powerful our human tendencies are, even when you have grown up knowing they are a sin. John Proctor is a well beloved man in the town of Salem, he is known for being a good and righteous man. But one day temptation came knocking on the door in the form of Abigail Williams, and that's when it all went downhill. Initially after the affair, Proctor and Abigail had been separated for sometime and Proctor thought that Abigail understood it was a one-time thing and would never happen again. However, this sinful act of lust changed Abigail, she was now after blood in order to make John her man and John can’t stop it. Honestly and truthfully, John Proctor is completely in love with his wife. Although his wife, Elizabeth may find herself “so plain, so poorly made,” and thinking “no honest love could come to”(137) her, John loves her. So there makes no reasonable explanation as to why he cheated on her. Through this, Arthur Miller shows that no matter what love, human tendences of lust can worm its way free and destroy a marriage. Although lust was one of John’s downfalls, the one temptation that left the most permanent mark was pride. John’s pride was the one thing that ultimately lead to his death. From confessing he “have known [Abigail]”(110) to “tear[ing] the paper and crumpl[ing] it”(144),

But humans are naturally curious beings as well as prideful, so that just makes us the most annoying busibodies on the planet. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shows how pride and greed can lead to a sad ending in a person’s life with the character Reverend Parris. Parris is a greedy man, it is in plain site that he is not a true man of faith as he complains about his salary saying, “The salary is sixty-six pound… I am not some reaching farmer with a book under my arm” (29), allowing readers to think he doesn’t really care about what he’s teaching, but the money that comes with it; no matter small amount it is. His greed also comes out as John Proctor reveals to Reverend Hale that “for twenty week [Parris] preach nothin’ but golden candlesticks until he had them”(65) showing how faith is not what is most important to him, but the material objects. Readers also see that with the greed is pride as Parris believes he deserves more than what he is getting. Back to the scene about his salary, he says “I am not some preaching farmer with a book under my arm; I am a graduate of Harvard College”(29). This proclamation exhibits how Parris thinks he is better than this, he is above the community of Salem and he should be treated in that manner. Arthur Miller uses Parris as a symbol, a symbol to show that even a man who is supposedly devoted to teaching the ways of God, can be filled with