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Kelcie Albano

Mr. Smith

Period 1 English

23 February 2017

The Crucible Essay

Have you ever been in an incident or situation where lying appears to be the only moral

and ethical option? In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shows instances where people are afraid of the

truth and its consequences so they tell false statements. He establishes this theme of lying when

Abigail Williams cannot turn from her lies because if she does, she will face hanging. During the

trials, lying is also shown when Reverend Parris bears false witness. It is also evident when

Elizabeth is dishonest about the relationship between John and Abigail; she chooses to save

Johns reputation instead of telling the truth.

Early in the story Abigail and all the girls get caught doing something in the woods. They

refuse to confess the truth because the consequences of witchcraft is something among the lines

of death. So as to hide the truth, Abigail tries and convinces the other girls to lie about their

actions during the night in the woods:Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba

conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a

word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some

terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you (20). Although lying will

help all of the girls avoid punishment, this statement shows how selfish Abigail is and wants to

only protect herself from the consequences of conjuring spirits. She establishes her power over

them by threatening to shudder them during the night. This shows Abigail uses violence and

force to induce the girls to agree on a story to protect herself.

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Another way Abigail hides the truth from this town is by feigning nervousness when

seeing a spirit conjured by Mary Warren in the courthouse. She does this to persuade the court

that Mary is lying. When Reverend Hale starts to think Abigail could possibly be the one lying,

so she immediately begins to act. She first interrupts the Reverend by saying, You will not!

Begone! Begone, I say! (114). Abigail then continues acting by stating that she is seeing a

yellow bird that changed to a black shape and is starting to attack her and the all the girls.

Susanna Walcott says, Her claws, shes stretching her claws! (115). The actions of the girls

reveal how faithful and moral they truly are. These girls live in an environment where you are

only suppose to do good, however their actions show different and reveals how they are all

cowards. By pretending to see a lethal and scary creature is way to convince the court Mary is

doing witchcraft. It reveals that by using your youthfulness it is easy to gain trust from adults.

In this play Abigail isnt the only one revealing and confessing lies to the court. John

Proctor tells Mary Warren to reveal what the girls actually did in the forest in hope to reveal his

wife and other women are not guilty. Mary says, I-Mr. Proctor- Abigail leads the girls to the

woods, Your Honor, and they have danced there naked- (105). Reverend Parris, a witness to this

incident says, I can only say, sir, that I never found any of them naked, and this man- (105). As

the reader they know it's false information because in the beginning of the play the Reverend

tells Mr. Hale he saw them naked. This contradiction is important because if they were naked, the

judges would have known something more was happening than just dancing. Maybe just then the

judges wouldve started to not trust and believe Abigail. If it was revealed that his own daughter

was doing something bad in the woods, his reputation would be ruined. Reverend Parris action

to bear false witness is an act of selfishness and proves he is afraid of the truth.
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When John Proctor reveals the truth that he has had an affair with Abigail, unsurprisingly

lies and denies it. This is another moment that proves the people in Salem are afraid of the

repercussions of telling the truth. In search of the truth, Judge Danforth calls Elizabeth, Johns

wife, from jail to the court. The Judge asks, Your husbanddid he indeed turn from you?

(113). Elizabeth doesnt answer but she tells the judge he is a good man. So then the judge says,

Look at me! To your own knowledge, has John Proctor ever committed the crime of lechery?

Answer my question! Is your husband a lecher! (113). She answers, No sir, not realizing that

her husband had already confessed (113). In the one moment in Elizabeths life when telling the

truth would mean salvation, she decides lies to save her husbands reputation. Although

Elizabeth was dishonest, it is considered an act of forgiveness and compassion. She arguable had

good intentions to lie, but it proves the point of being afraid of the effects of revealing the truth.

This provides evidence because if she was to tell the truth, the outcome of the trials may have

been different. Since Elizabeth was afraid of the consequences of an affair and didnt want to

ruin her husbands reputation she only thought it would be best to confess false information.

In the book The Crucible it is evident that a theme throughout the story is that people are

afraid of the truth and its consequences that come with it. Abigail Williams uses her acting

ingenuity and threatening personality to ensure the town doesnt discover the truth. Reverend

Parris reveals deceitful information to protect himself. And Elizabeth Proctor had good intentions

in telling a lie to try and save her husband, but it doesnt take away the fact that she did it do

avoid the effects of her husbands deadly sin. These are three situations that show evidence in

being apprehensive of the consequences of lying. From this, we can learn it is always better to

tell the truth in the beginning when you are caught doing something unethical. We should always

remember that honest in most cases is the best policy.