Integrity’s Role in The Crucible and in Today’s Society
Interpreted literally, a crucible simply refers to a large caldron, in which metals are melted down. But symbolically, a crucible can be considered a test of one’s moral righteousness, whether one softens when things get hot or chooses to stand firm. Integrity, or the lack thereof, plays a huge role in both The Crucible and in today’s world; displaying the characteristic of integrity is important in the play, and it is important in the present.
John Proctor sacrifices himself in order to spread the truth. After tearing his confession to shreds, he states, “You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see a shred of good in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs” (Miller 1256). At the last moment, he recognizes how much the truth is worth. He has an epiphany, suddenly realizing that the truth has more value than his life, and even raising his kids. He understands that his refusal to give a false confession could have a significant effect on how the townspeople respond to the proceedings of the court, and he finally acknowledges that the power of the truth could even cleanse his sins.
Additionally, Giles Corey is willing to suffer a painful death, in exchange for the benefit of leaving the world on his own terms. In Act IV,
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Before John and the others are executed, Danforth states, “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for these weeps for corruption”(Miller 1256). Danforth wants justice, but he has no idea what true justice really is, nor how to achieve it. His determination to find someone to punish leads him to become irrational; he completely ignores one side of the story, being subjective rather than objective, something a judge should never be. He lets this, as well as his extreme disconnect with the town, impair his
Zi Liu Ms. Elder College English 11 The Crucible Break Assignment ACT ONE 1. Why did the Salem settlement need a theocracy? Why had the settlers begun to turn toward individualism?
The Crucible by Arthur Miller has many lessons to learn from. One of The major lesson I thought that is important is honesty. The accusations throughout the story were built on lies from those trying to protect their own name, and putting the town into confusion. Nobody in Salem, Massachusetts felt like they could trust anymore, after all of the false allegations made. If Three characters in the story would have been honest from the beginning, the town would not have been in such confusion.
In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor was accused of witchcraft. John Proctor was a man of great integrity and knew he did nothing wrong. He was given the choice to confess and lie or be hung. Being the honest and stubborn man that he was, he decided his name was more important than his life. John struggled both internally and with others while trying to fight for what he thought was right.
The Crucible was written in 1952 by Arthur Miller, the play delivers many messages and carries many themes throughout. Nearly every character in the play is put to the test to display an act of courage, weakness, or truth. Some characters lack these traits and never learn to have courage or display honesty. However, most characters are very courageous and demonstrate these acts throughout the whole play. Overall the theme of the The Crucible boils down to being about honesty, weakness, and courage.
In the play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, John Proctor was internally triumphant when he gained respect for himself, primarily due to his mission of personal redemption and his integrity. Overwrought by regret of his actions, John Proctor is driven on a mission to personally prove himself. He realizes the enormous mistake of committing lechery with Abigail, and wants to prove to himself he has a good will. Near the final pages of the play, Proctor was asked if he was accompanied when doing the devil’s work, he responded “I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it” (Miller 141).
A Man's Honor Honor is something that can be earned, lost, and taken away. In the Novel “The Crucible” John Proctor has his honor taken away and attempts to earn it back. He had an affair and is now trying to earn respect from the person he cares about, his wife. John Proctor is an honorable man because he helps people in need, loves his wife and stays a truthful man before he dies. John Proctor Helped his friends be successful and cared for their safety.
The Crucible Essay What others think about you is all people seem to care about. So when your reputation is good and is on the line, you will do almost anything to protect that. Reputation is the main value that the characters in The Crucible are trying to protect.
In history there have been many major events that have shaped the times we live in. Two of the major events of our time are the "witchunts" of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. The Crucible is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a drama and fictional story of the Salem Witch Trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692-1693. Miller wrote the play as a parable for McCarthyism, when the United States government ostracized people for being communists.
Integrity is an essential piece of heroism, this can especially be seen in the novel "The Crucible" as the two ideals of integrity and heroism collide. Many different conclusions could be made from reading this novel when it comes to both integrity and heroism. While there are characters like John Proctor whom exhibits heroism through integrity, selflessness, and bravery, there are other characters whom sacrifice their own integrity in order to preserve their own imagine. These characters are portrayed as dynamic villains like Reverend Parris and Abigail Williams and others like Salem's own Sheriff whom is less dynamic and a greater linear character. Each individual's integrity would change constantly throughout the story due to a constant stacking of lies, all of which is rooted to one's struggle to keep a good image by forfeiting her own integrity.
By looking at The Crucible by Arthur Miller one can see that the characterization of John Proctor reveals the theme of reputation and integrity, which is important because refusing to tell lies to protect his reputation and stop delirium from spreading throughout Salem. John Proctor states that the woman of Salem who have been locked up for witchcraft:”Excellency, does it not strike upon you that so many of these women have lived so long with such upright reputation”(3.1.305-309). Proctor represents reputation because he would rather die than have his reputation downed to a victimizer. Protecting his reputation motivates John Proctor to deny that witchcraft exists in the village. All he hears is crying out of screams and wailing which is a cause of the Devil 's work: “What 's she doing?
Although, many people that were condemned weren’t actually apart of the Communist Party, (under McCarthyism around 1950-1954) they got blacklisted or lost their jobs. This social injustice is also portrayed in The Crucible as its characters face the Salem Witch Trials. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as his own reaction to the injustice of McCarthyism. Miller’s purpose was to show how people accused each other with false denunciations because of their fear, jealousy and solely hatred of one another under McCarthyism.
Published in 1952, during a period of cold war tensions, which culminated in the ideological witch trials of the mcarthy era in America; The crucible by Arthure miller is set in 1692 during the witch trials in salem massachusetts. The author has used allegory to position the reader to draw parrelels betweeen the to time periods and critisize the persecution that occured in both eras. One of the main themes that Miller has used to portray this viewpoint is the representation of personal integrity. Integrity is the quality of having strong moral pronciples. This is acheived through strongly contrasted characterisation of characters such as Abigail williams and and Rebecca Nurse, aswell as the inclusion of textual features such as irony, symbolism
The end of the Crucible is very suspenseful when the protagonist, John Proctor, is faced with choosing between confessing to a lie or dying for the truth. At first, Proctor is hesitant and signs the papers, confessing himself to evil, but before the signed paper is collected by the court, he tears it apart and is sentenced to death. This was his best option, for it stopped him from living a remorseful life. His decision to tear apart the signed confession was the most correct not only for himself but for his family and the community as well.
He explains to the court that Abigail is involved with his crime, adultery. He admits to Danforth that he had an affair with Abigail during his marriage with Elizabeth. Although he confessed, he wasn’t straightforward when he did but sadly Danforth knew exactly what he meant. John yells, “It is a whore! – I have known her sir, I have known her” (110).
In Arthur Miller’s dramatic play The Crucible, John Proctor, the protagonist, symbolized truth and justice by displaying honor and pride in his name. The change in balance between those two attributes acted as a catalyst in defining moments of the play. In the beginning, Proctor equally reflected both pride and honor in separate events. However, when forced to make a decision, he chose honor over pride. Ultimately, both his honor and pride pushed him to commit the ultimate sacrifice.