The Crucible review

The Crucible review

When things get bad, some people think it’s best to run away from their problems rather than face them. Some people would rather die for something they strongly believe in than lie to save their life. The Crucible is a play by Arthur Miller that makes you ask yourself these questions. It is a play written in 1952 about the real Salem witch trials. In the play, people of the Salem village are accused of witchcraft because of a particular character that is trying to blame “witches” when she is caught doing something she isn’t supposed to. At the end of The Crucible, Abigail flees Salem to escape the punishments for her fraud, and John Proctor is facing the death penalty for a crime he did not commit. The crime being witchery or witchcraft. Hale tells John that he should lie and live because life is God’s most irreplaceable gift, but John decides to stand up for what he believes in rather than living a lie, and he hangs. I believe that Proctor and Elizabeth made the right decision at the end of The Crucible because if you believe in something, you should be willing to die for it.

Some people think Abigail made the right decision at the end of The Crucible because she ran away and took the easy way out when things got bad. Abigail is the character responsible for the deaths of other village members. In the court, Abigail lies to Danforth and puts on a dramatic show by saying “I have been hurt, Mr. Danforth; — Been near to murdered everyday because I done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people” and to get the court to believe her she also adds “-And this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a–” and then Danforth reassures her that he does not mistrust her. (872). Abigail is very good at getting her way and lying to do so. In this piece of evidence, you can see Abigail putting on a show, so that the court believes her, she has dug herself a massive hole by proceeding to lie in court and make these matters worse. This shows that Abigail was the one responsible for this tragedy because Abigail even says that she’s the one that pointed out the “Devil’s people,” which makes to the one responsible for the people who were hung. In the end, instead of trying to make things right, Abigail runs away from her problems, which is never the right choice, it just makes things worse, and in this case, people died because of her.

However, running from your problems doesn’t solve them, especially now that she stole the Proctor’s life savings and left town, she can’t come back and make things right just like that. The fact that Abigail left Salem proves that she was up to no good with the witch trials from the beginning. When things get sketchy for Abigail, she disappears, nowhere to be found in the village. Parris discusses with the two judges Hathorne and Danforth about Abigail’s disappearance, Parris says to Danforth “Excellency, I think they be aboard a ship. Danforth stands agape. My daughter tells me how she heard them speaking of ships last week, and tonight I discover my — my strongbox is broken into. He presses his fingers against his eyes to keep back the tears.” (879). Abigail is responsible for the people who hung and was the cause of all the false accusations, and she is the reason why those people died. She made up a story to protect herself and to put the blame on someone else and then later turned it into an opportunity to get revenge on John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. Abigail decided to leave the town because the judges started to doubt what the girls were saying, and she was afraid of facing the consequences. I believe John and Elizabeth Proctor made the right choice at the end of The Crucible by standing up for what they believe in, even if it means dying for it, But there is another perspective we need to take a look at.

Some people think Hale made the right decision at the end of The Crucible because he states that it is better to lie and live than to die, and justifies that by saying life is God’s most precious gift. Hales does his best to convince Elizabeth that Proctor should lie and confess to witchcraft rather than die. Hale says he has no connection with the courts and Elizabeth doubts it, Hale then says to Elizabeth.” I would save your husband’s life, for if he is taken I count myself his murderer.” While in the court, Hale also says to Elizabeth, “I have gone this three month like our Lord into the wilderness. I have sought a Christian way, for damnation’s doubled on a minister who counsels men to lie.” Hathorne and Danforth deny what Hale said about it being a lie and they proceed to believe the whole thing. (881). Hale thinks Proctor should confess, and he feels so strongly that Proctor should lie to save his life that Hale even says that he counts himself as Proctor’s murderer if he hangs. Hale tries his best to talk to Elizabeth so that he can get her to convince her husband that he should lie to save his life. Hale even tries to convince the court that this whole thing is a lie, Hathorne and Danforth say it is not a lie, and they go on to believe that there is witchcraft in the village and that there are people who need to hang when it was just some girls trying to cover up something they shouldn’t have been doing. Nevertheless, The puritan way is not to lie, that is one of the commandments, and if he lies and confesses he is sinning and breaking one of the commandments. He is standing up for what he believes in, and because of that, he rather die than lie about his life. When he is asked to sign the confession, Proctor refuses to sign confessing to witchcraft, and Hale says, “Man, you will hang! You cannot!” Proctor then says, “I can. And there’s your first marvel, that I can. You have made your magic now, for no, I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with but white enough to keep it from such dogs.” (886). John Proctor confesses but refuses to sign his name to a lie, but if he doesn’t sign, he gets hung. John decides to put his beliefs before his life and stands up for what he believes in. John chooses to hang rather than sign his name to a lie for the whole town to see, Not just because it breaks one of the commandments but also because it ruins his name, and Proctor knows for a fact that he isn’t a witch. He has children, and he doesn’t want them growing up knowing that their father was a “witch,” so Proctor instead hangs than sign and advertise his name for the whole town to see.

I believe Proctor and Elizabeth made the correct decision at the end of The Crucible because people should stand up for what they believe in, even if that means you have to die for it. In the court, Proctor is accused of witchcraft because of something Marry Warren says, and he says to Danforth,” A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud — God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!” (876). Proctor stands up for what he believes in by telling Danforth that there is a fire burning and that the can hear the boot of Lucifer, also stating that Lucifer’s face is his own, and Danforths which is symbolizing that they would both be sinning if he confessed and got put to death. Proctor is saying that if he is falsely accused that he will be dragging Danforth down to hell with him because by accusing him of witchcraft when he isn’t a witch and putting him to death, Danforth would be sinning too, therefore, cause him to be sent to hell. Proctor verbally confesses as he is being questioned, and is asked to sign his name to the confession, he denies and says, “You have all witnessed it–it is enough.” Danforth replies with, “You will not sign?” and Proctor still refuses to sign. After Proctor restates that they have all witnessed his confession, Danforth says, “Do you sport with me? You will sign your name, or it is no confession, Mister!” (885). Proctor doesn’t sign the confession; he chooses to stand up for his beliefs rather than sign his name to a false confession or a lie. Proctor doesn’t sign the faith because he believes he is not a witch and he does not want his confession on display for the whole village to see when he isn’t even a witch; he’s just an ordinary person who would be seen as a witch if he signed his name to the confession. Proctor decides to stand up for what he believes in by hanging rather than signing his name to that lie. It is best to stand up for what you believe in, to show that you are serious about what you believe in and dying for something you believe in is an honorable thing.

I believe the Proctors made the right choice at the end of the play The Crucible, and that is because John stands up for what he believes in by dying for it. Some people think Abigail made the right choice at the end of The Crucible by taking the easy way out when things got bad, but that is wrong. Taking the easy way out is for lazy people that can’t push themselves to make a change and fix the mistakes they made. Other people think Hale made the right decision at the end of The Crucible when he states that lying to save your life is better than dying because life is God’s most precious gift. But that perspective is wrong, and that is because, if something means a lot to you, it is best to stand up for what you believe, even if it means dying for it. I think John and Elizabeth make the correct choice at the end of The Crucible when they state that you should stand up for what you believe in, even if it means you have to die for it. This is the correct perspective because, in life, it is essential to stand up for what you believe in, even if it means dying for it. If you don’t stand up for what you believe in, people will walk all over you until the day you do stand up for what you believe in. Standing up for what you believe in is very important and can especially be seen in the history of the US and even the history of the world, people have been mistreated for their race and skin color for years in the past. We wouldn’t be where we are today if someone hadn’t stood up for their beliefs, even if it means they died for it. Some of the people who died for what they believed in are Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela.