Lies of The Crucible
Lying has always been considered to be one of the worst things man could do. Yet almost anyone who has ever spoken a word in their life has lied at one point or another. The truth is that lying comes naturally. Lying is an easy way out of situations that could get us in trouble. It truly is an act of pure selfishness. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, Miller shows what the consequences of lying are and proves that "honesty is the best policy". The first thing lying does is turn people against whoever maybe lying. Lying does this because once someone is branded a liar, they are also looked at as selfish, among other things. There are several examples of how lying can be an act of selfishness in The Crucible. The first deals with the play's protagonist, Abigail Williams. Abigail lied because she loves John Proctor and wants him for herself. Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor's wife, of being a witch. This news comes one night from Mary Warren. Elizabeth is speaking, "I am accused?" And Mary Warren replies "Somewhat mentioned..." ...Elizabeth later speaking of Abigail says "She wants me dead, John, you know it!"(59, 60) Here we see how selfish Abigail can be. Abigail knows that
The last consequence of lying is the how it hurts the liar himself. Lying will takes its toll on anyone especially the one who lies. This happens most often when the lie ends up back firing on the liar when either they are caught in a lie or when the lie has gone so far that they can not be saved. The example of this is not actually part of the play, but what happened after the Salem witch trials. After months and months of lying and falsely accusing people of witchcraft Abigail finally realizes that she has gone to far. People of the town have started to look down upon her and avoid her. So, she flees. Abigail stole money from her uncle Parris and runs away. The book states, "The legend has it that Abigail turned up later as a prostitute in Boston."(no page # given) Abigail's lies were her downfall. Another example of lies hurting the liar is Elizabeth lying, but for good purposes, to Danforth about John being an adulterer. John had already confessed to the crime and if Elizabeth had told the truth it would have proven Abigail and the other girls to be liars. But, because Elizabeth lied the trials went on and eventually John, her husband, fell victim to it all. if Elizabeth is accused but will not confess that she will be hanged. Another group of people who lie out of selfishness are the court officials. If the people of Salem were to
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Approximate Word count = 918
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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