Essay on The Importance of Pride In The Crucible

The value of pride in a human can be weighed in two separate ways, one being good, and one being bad. An individual can have both good and bad pride, but they can have more of one than the other. Therefore, what are the effects of having good pride or bad pride as a characteristic? While having good pride can be a positive trait, having bad pride can have negative consequences for those who have it, such as Parris in The Crucible, those who think too highly of themselves and cause others to suffer because they refuse to help.

Parris shows some bad pride in the Crucible when he is speaking to Abigail. In Act I, line 60 Parris states, "And I pray you feel the weight of truth upon you, for now my ministry is at stake, my ministry and perhaps your cousin's life," Reverend Parris says, expressing his pride in himself and his ministry”. Parris is telling Abigail that if she does not tell the truth that him being Reverend and be gone. This is him showing that he is more worried about not being Reverend and not about his daughter health. In lines before that he says, "Now look you, child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.” (I, 46). Parris is troubled that if his “enemies” find out what the children were really doing in the forest, that they will come after him and that his life and reputation is on the line now that Abigail is not telling the truth.  

Some out in the world have too much pride and most of the time that pride is negative, like thinking too highly of oneself and refusing to help others due to their pride. For example, when my sister, Alyssa, started to work at an office she described her boss as rude and conceited, she said that every day he came in and started to brag about the amazing weekends he had. And sometimes when someone said something wrong and someone tried to correct him, he was rude and tried to put them down. She worked for a boss who thought too highly of himself and was trying to put other people down by putting himself above others. It can make people look rude, but it can also put the people around them down and make them feel bad about themselves. Another example, A long time ago, my uncle had lost his job, but he did not tell my aunt that he did, instead he left for work like he normally did but what my aunt did not know was whether he was going to his friend's house or going to bars. And aunt started to know that something was up when the bills for their house and cars we’ getting paid. So, one day before my uncle left for work, she asked him about it. He then told her what was really going on. But before they knew it, they were so behind on the house payment that they were going to lose it. In order to prevent my aunt and kids from thinking less of him, my uncle shut them out of the truth, causing them to suffer. The situation ended up working out for them in the end, but it still caused them pain and heartache because they did not know the truth and someone close to them lied to them.

Some may say that Proctor shows a good act of pride when telling the truth to the court about having an affair with Abigail but when Abigail first accused Elizabeth, Proctor did not want to soil his name and reputation. An example to show this is, "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worthy the dust on the feet of them that hung, leave me my name"(IV,288). When Proctor's wife was accused of witchcraft, he stood still and did not speak up or try to prevent her from being taken because he was more worried about what to do about his reputation if word got out that he had committed a sin. Proctor does not want the town to blacken his reputation, so he chooses the path that ends his life.