Theme Of Deception In The Crucible

A major theme in The Crucible is the deception of falsehood and honesty. A character that is a prime example is Abigail Williams. Through the book Abigail shows several layers of lies and deception to protect herself. Abigail has a rather tough life because both of her parents died when she was young and ever since she has worked as a servant in several households. Abigail has a strong hold on several people throughout the story which is why she has so much power over the town of Salem. The whole story in revolved around the scandal of witchcraft. People would be accused of being a witch for several absurd reasons. If someone looked like a witch, was an unusual person, or was a woman that would be enough to be accused of witchcraft. In the beginning of The Crucible, several girls are shown naked dancing around a fire. In 1692 the act of dancing was considered to be a witch like quality. Reverend Parris, who is Abigail’s uncle, discovers the girls dancing in the forest and immediately confronts his niece about the actions. Abigail tells him that Tituba( who is a slave) made the girls dance. This was the first example that Abigail lied and pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. Abigail has launched a huge scandal around Salem

Abigail shapes the name of The Crucible because she causes the trial because she was the leader of the dancing and other activities. Millers underlying message is that people should be conscious about what goes on around them and not let themselves get swept up into hysteria. Abigail relates to the underlying message because she increases hysteria in the community by putting other people to blame, making situations dramatic, and overall causing people to think that a witch is among them. Abigail is a very manipulative and controlling character and that is why the story holds a major theme of honesty and lies because even one lie can cause a whole society to go