The Crucible Conformity Essay

A sense of belonging is essential to a person's values, but when misused, it can undermine one's reputation and self-identity. Conformity is the act of corresponding attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to match group standards, and politics closely, or being like-minded to fit into group beliefs. In the case of the play, The Crucible, conformity is brought on by one’s desire to uphold their safety and religious beliefs, but it can furthermore result in a loss of identity and personal freedom. In the story, readers learn about the hysteria of the Salem witch trials. The play follows what happens as Abigail Williams and Tituba start falsely accusing people of witchcraft, which creates mass hysteria amongst people in Salem. In the end, 20 people

Conformity shapes our everyday decisions, but can also impact our lives long-term, like ruining one’s reputation. One important character in The Crucible is John Proctor. In the story, Proctor is previously romantically involved with a young girl, Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams plans to accuse Elizabeth, Proctor’s wife, of being a witch so that she could be with Proctor forever. In this process, Proctor is accused of being associated with the devil, ultimately ruining his life and reputation. An article from the First Amendment Encyclopedia shows the significance of these senseless accusations, writing, “The Salem Witch Trials testify to the way fear can ruin lives of innocent people and the importance of due process in protecting individuals against false accusations” (Purdy). This quote from the article supports the idea that these senseless accusations of witchcraft can ruin one’s individuality and freedom. Facing these ludicrous accusations, Proctor is sent to jail. After Proctor is in jail for 3 months, he faces the hard decision of being hung or confessing to something he never did in order to save himself, but permanently destroying his name. He makes the difficult decision to sign a confession but refuses to hand over the signed confession. Proctor proclaims, “‘Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang. How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!’” (Miller 145). Although Proctor wants to live, he refuses to let his reputation be ruined by having his confession put up for the whole community to see. He knows that if he wants to live he is going to have to sacrifice his name, but even so, he is hesitant to give up his name. By putting his name up there and confessing to witchcraft, he conforms to