Mistakes In The Crucible

The crime and the cover-up, we see it all over T.V. shows and movies nowadays. Likewise, in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, people, out of fear, shame, or pride will perpetuate and defend their mistakes. In The Crucible, many of the young girls in their puritan society begin to accuse other members of the town of witchcraft. The town nearly loses its sanity as more and more people begin to lie and cover their tracks. This theme is illustrated through the surreptitiousness of the judges, Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail Williams. Firstly, the judges of the Salem Witch Trials attempted to conceal their mistakes. This can be seen in how they try to convince John Proctor to admit to witchcraft in order to prove that the convictions have not been false. The townspeople are becoming leery of the fact that such upstanding members of their society have been accused. Reverend Parris even states, "Rebecca Nurse is no Bridget that lived three year with Bishop before she married him. John Proctor is not Isaac Ward

One important way is when she blames Tituba for making her drink the chicken blood. Though the dancing in the woods was harmless, in Puritan times it would have been considered to be sinful. Abigail defends herself by saying "She made me do it! She made Betty do it!" (Miller 1260). She wants to remain a good woman in their society. She can't afford to have her name ruined in the town. Another way that she attempted to cover up her mistake was by claiming to see other women of the town with the Devil. She told the town there were many other members of the town with her. The town was especially taken back when Abigail said, "I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!" (Miller 1262). She accused many other members of the society in order to take the heat off of her self. The town forgot about her mistakes, and focused on the other "witches" in the