Pride In The Crucible

Pride leads to the downfall of Salem

A crucible is a laboratory instrument used to heat off any excess water. In the same sense, when “heat” is applied to the Protestant society in Salem, Massachusetts, the readers are able to see the true characters of the townspeople. The readers see whether characters are motivated by greed, by pride, by integrity, or by other impulses. Most people are motivated by pride in one form or another. In the play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, prides of John Proctor, Abigail William, and Judge Danforth leads to the complete downfall of Salem, Massachusetts.

In The Crucible, pride motivates people to break up their own and other's families. John Proctor’s pride and his refusal to dirty his name eventually leads to his

When Judge Danforth asks Proctor to give his honest (false) confession, Proctor refuses to confess because of the “shred of goodness in [himself]” (Miller 144). John Proctor decides to confess at first because he thinks his honesty has already broken, and he has nothing to lose by confessing. He thinks it’s more beneficial to make a false confession so that he can stay alive for the sake of his wife and children. However, when Proctor finds out the court wants a written confession that would be publicly announced, he reconsiders his action. John Proctor says the court will not “use [him]” to influence public opinion or condemn other innocent people to death (Miller 142). He finds his goodness that and has concerns about whether his sons can “walk like men in the world” when he himself has “sold [his] friends”, so he refuses to confess (Miller 143). Elizabeth praises John for not confessing until very late, but he says that he hasn’t confessed out of “spite” and that it is “hard to give a lie to dogs” (136). John Proctor cries of his whole soul: “I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”(Miller 143). At this point in the play, John Proctor has lost nearly