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Post Hoc Fallacy In The Crucible

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Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy is the belief that “After this, therefore because of this.” This means that since A happened, and then B happened, that A causes B. "Abigail Williams, sir... without a word nor warnin she falls to the floor... stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out.... 'Tis hard proof! I find here a poppet Goody Proctor keeps... And in the belley of the poppet a needle's stuck." (Act II, p 71), in this quote, the post hoc fallacy functions to show how people can make brash accusations from false coincidences. When the needle is found in the poppet it was no big deal. Until a needle was found in the exact same spot on Abigail, then this became a problem. They were convinced that some sort of witchcraft caused the poppet to be a voodoo doll for Abigail. They never thought about Abigail deceiving them. This ignorance created a platform for Abigail to take the village over with her lies and kill anybody she wanted gone. This …show more content…

Scapegoating is prevalent in The Crucible by all characters. In The Crucible, Abigail uses scapegoating the most, “She sends spirits on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer!”(Act II, Pg. 44) By scapegoating, Abigail blames her conscious laughing during prayer on Tituba. This accusation leads Tituba to her grave. Later on it is revealed that Abigail was laughing at her own amusement and this had nothing to do with witchcraft. Abigail also uses Tituba as a scapegoat early on in the story. When Abigail was accused of conjuring up spirits in the forest when she was dancing, she accuses Tituba of forcing them. Tituba didn’t force or invite them to join her. Abigail says that Tituba forced her to dance with her, causing them to take Tituba to trial of Witchcraft. This false accusation adds on to the genocide that was the witch trials by showing how misconceptions can lead to terrible

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