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Moral Blindness In Liar, Torts On Fire

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Defense mechanisms such as projection, denial, repression, rationalization, and fantasizing are specifically active in the management and containment of moral anxiety, or to deactivate self-regulatory process that could otherwise have prevented moral blindness (Gabriel and Griffiths 2002; Rice and Hoffman 2014). (de Klerk 750) Moral blindness is defined as, the inability to understand the moral implications of a person’s actions or the immoral dimensions of their decisions (de Klerk 745-746). Abigail accuses others to avoid getting in trouble by the town people. These acts show how emotionless and how morally blind Abigail is. “In order to deal with unbearable internal conflict, unpleasant moral emotions such as guilt or anxiety can be mitigated …show more content…

Susan Safranski, a researcher for Learner in her article “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!” explains, children aged 8-12 start to lie from the development of enjoying participating in groups, and they also have a need for peer approval (2). Miller never gave actual ages, but the youngest girls in the group were young, and around this age, meaning they probably just followed Abigail’s actions (who was older than them) to impress her. There are also many reason why children lie, to avoid punishment “Protection. It’s scary to admit doing something wrong. Some children unconsciously use lying to cover up mistakes. Avoiding blame. Unfortunately, many children can’t accept responsibility for their behavior. They lie so they won’t get punished” (Safranski …show more content…

John Proctor even realized this after his wife got charged with witchcraft: Proctor: If she is innocent! Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? 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. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrant’s vengeance! I’ll not give my wife to vengeance! (II, 1179) Arthur Miller explains how this phenomenon worked in salem, “The witch-hunt was a perverse manifestation of the panic which set in among all classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual freedom” (I, 1129). Individual freedoms were taken during the Salem Witch Trial and The Red

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In the beginning of the movie, Reverend Parris questions Abigail about why Elizabeth Proctor let her go from working at her home. Parris knows something occurred between John and Abigail. In the play, Parris suspects something happened between the two, but does not come out and say it like he did in the movie. Parris only hints at knowing about why she was asked to leave the Proctor house. Parris says to her in the play, “Is there any other cause that you have told me, for your being discharged from Goody Proctor’s service?”

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John Proctor changed significantly from the beginning of the play to the end. At first, he is a farmer outside of Salem. He cuts wood, plows, and owns a great amount of property. John is married to Elizabeth Proctor. He had an affair with Abigail Williams, who was the Proctor’s former servant.

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In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, indirect characterization takes place throughout the play. Indirect characterization is where one’s speech, appearance, or actions show their true self, rather than verbally being said. Many characters take on this in the play, but one particular character of note, is Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams gives off that she’s innocent and non guilty of incidents that have occurred, but in reality, she’s scared of potential consequences because she is responsible for the Salem Witch Trials.

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The play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, is a story that takes place in Salem during the time when witches were real. The story of these people accusing each other of witchcraft to cover up their own story of attempting witchcraft which leads to innocent people being hanged for something they are not. Those people would rather die than to lie about confessing they have been with the Devil, because only cowards lie and the brave keep to the truth till the end. John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth is accused of witchcraft by Abigail. Because John rejected

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How can a righteous lady and a vindictive woman both be drawn to the same man? Better said, how can one man be involved with such different women? Apparently, these mysteries will forever remain unsolved. However, Arthur Miller surely knows how to deal with this controversy in his play The Crucible, through the characters of Elizabeth and Abigail. These completely opposite women serve as foils for each other since the differences between them help highlight their individual persona.

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Certain crimes such as: Adultery, Murder and Theft, during the Puritan era were always diagnosed as inhumane and ruined a person's reputation, despite any attempt of redemption. Proctor’s crime of adultery is a key element in the starting of the salem witch trials and the devastating end. Proctors situation alternates throughout the novel consistently by other villagers and even Proctor himself. His crime at first is tried to be subdued by himself then it is later used as evidence in a trial and finally it is used as a confession however it ultimately is not believed. To begin Proctor first tries to hide is crime from the other villagers however Abigail seems to want to expose their relationship.

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In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is accused of performing witchcraft and contracting with the Devil. He is faced with the decision to either confess to or deny the accusations. Ultimately, Proctor chooses to deny the accusations and dies a martyr. Proctor’s decision to sacrifice himself is justified because he protected the reputation of those who died and risked being arrested to save his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. John Proctor’s death is justified because he was willing to sacrifice his life to protect the reputation of others.

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Abigail Williams: The Conniving Woman of the Crucible The Salem Witch Trials began in Salem Massachusetts in 1629. Many people were accused of being a witch and many lives were lost. In Author Miller’s The Crucible, Abigail Williams is the most to blame for the events of the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail is one of the main characters in the play.

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The death of an entire town because a group of girls lied about dancing in the woods. In the town of Salem, innocent people died in the town of witchery because a group of girls. The only proof they had of witchery was other people’s word that was in the town. Most people blamed others so they were free and they no longer were the bad people. I believe Abigail Williams is the one that should be blamed for the deaths because she lied about what was going on in the woods and blamed other people in the town to be witches so they were no longer looking at her any longer.

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Adolescent minds are the most intelligent kind of mind. A young brain is filled with creativity, imagination and innocence. Though the thought process of a teen is assumed to be selfish there are other factors involved. A combination of these characteristics seems almost dangerous. One would undermine a juvenile to use these qualities to manipulate the court for their own selfish wishes or pleasures.

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He also underlines that people have personal motives to accuse other because of their biases. Another example of this is in act III, when Proctor confesses to his act of adultery in order to save his wife from death, “God help me, I lusted and there is a promise in such sweat... My wife is innocent” (102). Proctor is attempting to accuse Abigail of faking all the accusations and affiliations with the devil because he knows that Abigail longs to remove Elizabeth from his life. His admission of adultery conveys his feelings of guilt and extreme love towards his wife Elizabeth.

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Abigail Williams was the goody two shoes that kept her reputation high, until she turned on many with a single lie. In The Crucible By Arthur Miller, is set in the year of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts where a witch outbreak has jailed many of the women from a fault of one girl named Abigail. It causes havoc in Salem that will lead to death in the village. Abigail has shown many transformations and showed that she is very dynamic from her emotions, to her actions, and to her experiences throughout the story of The Crucible. Abigail has shown that she has grown mentally and emotionally.

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Guilt is emotional torture that transforms one's psychological operation. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, before the Salem witch trials emerge, John Proctor cheats on his wife Elizabeth Proctor, with young Abigail. Causing him to live with an eternal shame that generates dispute. Proctor’s endeavour is to elude from his wrongdoing, but he cannot because of the disgrace he feels himself to be when around Elizabeth. Miller shows that John Proctor's emotional and behavioral conflict rises from his guilt.

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All these characters have what they feel, is a logical reason for lying, but the question why do people lie to others and themselves, is something to ponder while reading the play. People lie to themselves to make them feel better about their own lives and people lie to others to cover up something they may be ashamed of. One reason people lie to themselves is to make them feel better about their own life and what they 're going through. Abigail is reprimanding the girls for saying things about witchcraft she doesn 't approve of.

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Fear and suspicion can cause many harmful outcomes, and possibly destroying a whole society. There are many different examples, but a very good example is in the story The Crucible by Arthur Miller. In The Crucible, fear was the main reason the village faced many witchcraft incidents, and it played a major role in placing many people in jail or getting them killed. Through one of the trials a women named Tituba gets accused of witchcraft by one of the girls, so out of fear she accuses many other people that have nothing to do with any witchcraft activities. And that was the process that was used by almost everyone in the community.

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