The Role Of Lying In The Crucible

In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller tells the story of the Salem witch trials taking place in

Quote 1: “The public defender, trying to get him off, called him a dumb animal,” I told her. “He said it would be like tying a hog down in that chair and executing him-an animal that didn’t know what any of it was all about. The jury, twelve white men good and true still sentenced him to death.” (26)

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment. By examining the characters of the play, I believe that the three major characters who should be blamed the most for the witch trials are Abigail Williams,

Furthermore, each lie is different some are bigger than others, but even the smallest of lies can do the most damage. Ericsson (1992) says, "The white lie assumes that the truth will cause more damage than a simple, harmless untruth" (p. 160). Telling a white lie is unnecessary and can lead to arrogance. A person didn't have to inform the lie in the first place but only does it to make themselves feel better. The third effect is relationship and friendships of a lie will be tested. Because the person lied to them, there is no longer trust in the

Cruelty is a recurrent theme in literature that often acts as a critical factor in a novel’s development. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the occurrence of cruelty is seen to be gradually increasing as the story goes on from accusations of witchcraft that lead into chaos and death. Through Miller’s depiction of the merciless accusations and murders of innocent people, cruelty reveals a high extent of people’s animosity and vengeance that is greatly influenced by the attitude of the surrounding atmosphere.

One of the greatest commandments written in history is “Thou Shalt not lie.” From a young age we have been taught of the negative effects of lying. We are taught, as toddlers, not to cheat on tests and punished for our dishonesty when caught. But as we grow older we discover that lying is not as terrible as we were raised to believe. Sometimes lying is safer than the truth. Lying helps us to protect the well-being of family and friends. Deception and secrecy are two major themes of Lois Lowry’s The Giver. While being dishonest is against the rules in The Giver, the survival of the community is dependent on deception and secrecy. Lying is written into the daily lives of the people of the community, and used so commonly that people are not aware

Stephanie Ericsson begins her explorative essay, “The Ways We Lie,” with a personal anecdote of all the lies she fabricated in one day. She told her bank that a deposit was in the mail when it was not, told a client that the traffic had been bad when she was late for other reasons, told her partner that her day was fine when it was really exhausting, and told her friend she was too busy for lunch when she just was not hungry, all in the course of a day. She shifts from talking about herself to talking about everyone, claiming that all people lie, exaggerate, minimize, keep secrets, and tell other lies. But, like herself, most still consider themselves honest people. She describes a week in which she tried to never tell a lie; it was debilitating, she claims. Furthermore, telling the truth all the time has serious consequences. She postulates that lying, though a form of hedging, must have some merit. She cites a broad definition of a lie from Webster’s dictionary, and asserts that this definition includes many types of lying.

In Ericsson’s essay she wrote about why lying threatens to become a “cultural cancer”. To explain why we lie, she tells us about different types of lies, and how they can still be harmful despite having good intentions. Ericsson is correct that lying threatens to become a “cultural cancer”. Lying threatens to become a “cultural cancer” because it can lead people going to a wrong direction. It can turn statements into excuses that can help people manipulate others. Also, it can make a person win over another person.

In our society, many people assume that lying is something wrong to do; they use to say that you always have to tell the truth no matter the situation. I believe those people are certainly wrong because it is impossible for any human being to always tell the truth, Mark Twain said “Lying is universal—we all do it.” This world would be so bizarre if everyone would speak only the truth. It is just something that would never happen, but people are fooling themselves thinking that lying is wrong, that we must tell the truth always.

Arthur Miller was the author of the Crucible who wrote this in 1953 in response to the second

The Crucible by Arthur Miller tells the story of a witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1690s. The witch hunt is sparked when girls in Salem are caught dancing and singing in the woods. Because of their fear of punishment, the girls begin to accuse people in the town of witchcraft. Miller’s story features many characters that allow fear to rule their lives: Reverend Parris, Judge Hathorne, and Abigail Williams all respond to their fears with actions that negatively affect the community of Salem. Similarly to these other characters, John Proctor responds to his initial fear of word of his affair getting out and ruining his reputation by lying; however, by the end of the play Proctor responds to the fear for the life of his wife by sacrificing his reputation. The effect of Proctor’s lying is the continuation of the witch trials, and the effect of his honesty at the end of the play is his death.

The Republican Congress members, not unlike the presidents in politics, also have tendency to fail on delivering their promises. The Republican Congress, in total, have kept a low 38 percent of their promises. That means that the Republican Congress only managed to follow through on a little more than a third of the promises they made..This means that they only delivered on about a third of the reasons or promises that individuals had voted them into their positions. The 38 percent of promises fulfilled by the Republican Congress leaves a staggering 62 percent of their promises that were not fully kept and enacted upon. Thirty percent of the promises the Republican Congress made were partially fulfilled through compromises.Not unlike the promises Obama made, the promises of the Republican Congress were a large reason the officials were elected into their offices. Typically, individuals hold the expectation that when they elect officials into an office, the

Lying can either make or break a person. It affects the outcomes and events that are given to the deceiver, and that individual has to live with the lies’ consequences. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the act of dishonest actions actions impacts the characters’ thoughts and decisions through the manipulation of fear and choice, whether to be truthful or not. The citizens in Salem, Massachusetts call themselves Puritans, a group of Protestants of the 16th century known for withholding a religious aspect. Even with their Puritan background, the hysteria of witchcraft seems to break through and consume their beliefs. Dishonesty is the root of every major conflict in Miller’s tale. Some have told a lie at least once, a few have more than others.

The setting in the play, The Crucible, takes place during the events of the Salem witch trials. At the time, many individuals were afraid of witchcraft, whereas numerous people are swept

The significance of lying only leads to more problems is conflicted in The Crucible by