The Crucible Literary Analysis

Rick Riordan, the author of the Percy Jackson series, once shared, “Sometimes you lie to deceive people. Sometimes you lie because you need the lie to become the truth.” In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, several characters, in the little village of Salem, deceive others to obtain what they want, whether it be a safe reputation or the guy of their dreams. Through characterization and plot elements, Miller conveys that idea that Justice is difficult to achieve, especially when people lie for their own benefit.

One way Miller indicates how people deceive others for personal gain, is through the characterization of Abigail Williams. In Act I of The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Abigail, a static character, dramatically confesses screaming, “I want to open myself!... I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller 45). When Reverend Parris’s slave, Tituba, falsely confesses to witchcraft, Abigail sees a good opportunity to save herself. Tituba confessed to witchcraft to hopefully get out of being hanged and beaten to death. Following her false confession, all the girls who “danced in the woods”, made up new lies. Abigail believed if she also admits she's a witch, she will be forgiven for “casting charms” in the woods with Tituba and her friends. Once she “opens herself” to everyone, she decides to place blame on others. Abigail accuses people at first to protect herself from being cast as a witch when they were caught in the forest at night. However, she continues to accuse people to get what she wants. Towards the end of the play, in Act III, Abigail’s longing for power and John Proctor remain unchanged: "But God made my face; you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin, Mary." (Miller 106). Following Proctor’s confession of adultery, Abigail longs to take the attention away from her, and place it on someone else. Abigail pretends to see a bird in the courtroom and asks it why it has come. She begs it to leave her alone and calls it "Mary". Abigail is trying to incriminate Mary Warren by making the judges think that she is sending out her spirit on Abigail and the girls in the form of a bird that is trying to attack them. Abigail accuses Mary because she wants to keep her own ruse going. She still hopes that somehow, these false accusations of witchcraft will help her to win John Proctor in the end. Abigail clearly demonstrates the theme that justice is difficult to achieve, especially when people lie for their own benefit.

In addition to Miller’s use of characters, he uses plot elements of the rising action to highlight the idea that equity is hard to achieve when people lie for their own interest. In Act II of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Proctor questions Hale with, “And why not, if they must hang for denyin' it? There are them that will swear to anything before they'll hang; have you never thought of that?” (Miller 56). Proctor tries to explain to Hale how anybody, in their right mind, will say whatever is needed to get out of being hanged. Once one is convicted, there is no escape unless they admit to worshiping the devil or practicing witchcraft. This is flawed because people should be able to prove their innocence somehow. People are going to lie, rather than go through the trouble of fighting for justice. Things will definitely spiral out of control when people are forced to lie instead of telling the truth. Suspicion will grow tension will rise. In Act III of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Danforth reaches out to grasp Elizabeth Proctor’s face and begs, “Look at me! To your own knowledge, as John Proctor ever committed the crime of lechery?....Answer my question! Is your husband a lecher! (Miller 45) ” Elizabeth Proctor, John’s Wife, faintly responds with, “ No, sir” (Miller 45). Danforth requested that Parris brings Elizabeth Proctor out from the court, so she can confirm that Proctor had an affair. When Elizabeth was brought in to be questioned, Abigail and Proctor were required to have their backs facing her, so they couldn’t exchange any sort of input or confirmation. Elizabeth had not been informed that Proctor had already admitted to his actions, so she lied on behalf of him. She was immediately dragged out of the room as Proctor yelled at her to tell the truth. Elizabeth lied to protect Proctor’s reputation, because she empathizes with his situation. She knows that Proctor is a good man, who is trying to achieve justice for the whole town. Now it will be difficult for Proctor to achieve justice for anybody, including himself, because he is seen as a liar. Through these plot points in the rising action of The Crucible, Miller uses events with characters including Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor, and Danforth to emphasize how justice is hard to achieve when people lie for their own benefit.

The characterization of Abigail Williams and the plot points of the rising action establish the lengths people go to get what the want, resulting in justice being difficult to achieve. Throughout the play, characters lied because they were so desperate to gain something such as a safe reputation, the significant other they wanted, and just utter protection from being accused. This text hopefully conveys the message that people should be cautious of what others say, because it is hard to tell when people are lying for their own benefit.