Lessons Learned In The Crucible

One of the first life lessons a child is taught growing up is that lying can only ever make a situation worse. This claim can easily be proven through Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The story follows the people of Salem, Massachusetts as their lives turn to chaos as a result of the Salem Witch Trials. No matter how farfetched the accusations were, the copious amount of lies told within the small town made it nearly impossible for anyone to know what really happened. These gaps in knowledge made people’s minds open to any kind of explanation. The dishonesty, brainwashing and manipulation exhibited by Abigail Williams, Mary Warren and the court is ultimately what allowed the witch trials to occur and to continue.

Although Abigail wasn 't the only girl to make that initial cry of witchcraft, she was the leader of the girls who did. When Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam had faked illness to avoid punishment for getting caught dancing in the woods, it was Abigail who manipulated all the girls involved into lying about it. She threatened them, saying “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

Despite being present in the woods that night, Mary had only watched as the other girls danced, and she had wanted to tell the truth from the very beginning. However, she was, as always, easily manipulated into going along with the trials, not sure entirely sure if witchcraft was involved. This became apparent when she testified against Abigail in court. When asked to prove that her previous fainting in court was all staged, she explained, “I - I used to faint because I - I thought I saw spirits” (Miller 107). The truth had become so skewed that Mary had become as brainwashed as the rest of the town, believing there were really witches attacking