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Moral Values In The Crucible

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How do the Values and Morals that individuals choose to uphold help define personal identity and also affect the wider community? The Values and Morals upheld by Individuals within the progression of the play The Crucible allows for a further understanding of the individuals personal identity, and consequently affects the relationships of these Individuals. The values and morals of an individual determine how they’ll react to a situation as the play progresses, whilst the personal identity of an individual is the personality, and roles within the community that the individual associates himself with. The perception of individuals by the community of Salem is heavily reliant upon the shared understanding of the values and morals of individuals …show more content…

This is notably seen in John Proctor as he denotes himself to be of much lesser value due to his confession, and affair with Abigail. “I have made a bell of my honour! I have rung the doom of my good name…“ As a result, Proctor who was identified to be an honest, upright and stern man at the beginning of the play feels as though his personal identity developed within the community has been desecrated. In essence, it is the values and morals of Proctor which essentially shape his personal identity, and right to belong within the community. In light of the morals and values of characters evidently shaping the personal identity of characters, this can also be blatantly seen when Francis Nurse, an influential man in Salem, who is well respected in Salem due to his nature of being able to called upon when needed, risks his social standing in an attempt to fulfil his role as a good husband. “Excellency, we have proof for your eyes; God forbid you shut them to it. The girls, sir, the girls are frauds.” For this reason, Francis Nurse identified to the court that the Judge and governor have been deceived in an attempt to save his wife. Ultimately, Francis Nurse is aware of the dilemma in which he has placed himself in, but due to his morals and values of the roles in which he needs to fulfil he sacrifices himself. Another example of an individual whose personal identity determines their actions is Danforth, who is introduced into the play as a well-informed and structured man; this also assists with the attribution of his role as a Judge, and is implied to be a man of his word. “Postponement now speaks a floundering on my part… While I speak God’s law I will not crack its voice with whimpering. “In this case, Danforth although admittedly knew the truth behind the incidents, as a Judge, attempts to

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When push comes to shove, everyone makes a tough decision, but in the end the decision was either out of fear to protect themselves, or a strategy to gain a designated amount of authority. In today 's society, many of the decisions people make lead to riots in the streets and people getting hurt. Similarly, the Ferguson riot in Missouri years ago, where many civilians were injured because of decisions made by everyone involved. Whether it turned violent because they wanted to prove something or because they feared the police when they showed up. In the story, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, the characters also illustrate the fact that it is human nature to defend oneself, to strive to survive despite the harm such actions can cause to

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For example, Danforth frequently spoke of the importance of fairness and justice, however when he found out that Abigail’s testimony was false, he refused to stop those that had been found guilty through Abigail’s testimony from being hanged. This is shown on page 100 in Act 4 of The Crucible where Danforth says, “Mr. Hale, as God have not empowered me like Joshua to stop this sun from rising, so I cannot withhold from them the perfection of their punishment.” It is assumed that the court will uphold morality and justice, yet Danforth’s character shows the inversion of the normal moral order in the

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Ethos. Miller continuously uses the ethos appeal by using sophisticated words and adding in his own person experience to show us as the reader that he knows what he is talking about. Throughout his passage he consistently adds very advanced word choice. For example, he says things like “Lucifer’s many faced lieutenants, diabolism, bemused, cosmology, and social antagonist”. However, with all these words and phrases there is another much less complicated way to say the same thing.

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