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Moral Conflict in the The Crucible |
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Moral conflict in The Crucible. Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, is a great portrayal of humans and their struggles. This
play takes place in the 1690's in Salem, a small Puritan community based on a rigid social
system, where an outbreak of rumors claiming witchcraft contaminated the small village. The
witch hysteria was initiated by a group of young girls (headed by Abigail Williams,) who were
afraid of being accused of swaying from the strict regulations. This caused conflict among the
people of the community and ultimately resulted in absolute chaos. I am going to write about
three of the main characters, Reverend Hale, John Proctor and Mary Warren, who have some of
the most intense internal and external struggles in the play.
Reverend Hale's battle is initiated by his personal commitment to God. In Act I, the
Reverend is described as an eager-eyed intellectual pondering the invisible world. Hale seeks
witches and gets them to confess, so god can bless them and rid them of the devil. An example of
this is when he said to Betty, "In nomine Domini Sabaoth sui filiique ite ad infernos," which
means: In the name of the lord of hosts and his son get thee to the lower world. This shows
Reverend Hale's views on witchery. He is a deeply religious man who was unrelenting in his
quest for the devil. Originally, Hale believed that there was witchcraft in the town and wanted to
drive it out. However as the play develops, Hale witnesses sincere and respectable townspeople
being sentenced and hanged. Hale tries to gain a perspective on those accused, by going to their
houses and putting questions to them, about their nature and religious behavior. He soon learns
that the court proceedings, lead by Judge Danforth were sending innocent people to their death,
in the name of Christianity. Here begins the Reverend's inner turmoil. With scrutiny, he looks at
himself and tries to figure out which way to go. Should he continue with what he is doing and
listen to Judge Danforth or should he listen to his conscience? He does try a feeble attempt to
talk to Danforth and explain how the unjust the court actions are, but again, his inner struggle
pulls him back to a more moderate stand. Hale then decides to persuade the wrongly accused to
confess witchcraft. At least this will save them from death by hanging. He preaches perjury to
the people, even though this is also against their religion. Hale's principles were ridden with guilt
and sadness because of his struggle with himself. Not only does Hale question himself, and
Danforth, but he questions his religion. Near the end of Act IV, Hale tells Elizabeth that
following religion is not worth it if religion can justify the death of so many innocent people
without credible evidence. This is the ultimate reproach, and Hale ends up leaving after the
hangings, with the weight of 19 innocent people (including the good names of Rebecca Nurse,
Martha Corey and John Proctor,) dead, which rests somewhat on his shoulders.
John Proctor a farmer and village commoner is similarly faced with an inner turmoil. He,
as well as Giles Corey and Rebecca Nurse became very prominent people and were respected in
Salem. Because of his role in the court cases, John gained respect. John also earns the respect of
the older members of the community, with his involvement of building the Salem church "I
nailed the roof upon the church, I hung the door." John Proctor is considered an honest man, but
few know that he is guilty of adultery with his former teenage servant, Abigail Williams. This
compromises his honesty in the eyes of his wife, Elizabeth. This also causes John to view
himself as a sinner and as someone unworthy of the respect he is given, especially when John
searches himself at the end of the play, crying "What is John Proctor?" Even though he gives
great importance to his public appearance, John Proctor has a very low view of himself and his
worth as a human being, which affects many of his decisions in the outcome of the play. "I
cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man. My honesty is broke
Elizabeth; I am no good man." He was fully aware of his immoral actions and the enormity of
the problem. Once he though this problem has vanished, it came back to slap him in the face.
Abigail decided to call John's wife Elizabeth, a witch, which in turn spurs conflict and anger
among the townspeople. Proctor then gets involved in these witch trials and claims to be with the
devil. His inner struggle is whether or not to tell the truth or fake a confession to save his own
life. He is confused as to which way to go and his main obstacles are firstly his pride and
secondly not being a party to implicating his innocent friends for similar crimes. He would rather
confess than die as a martyr for honesty. However, as John confesses, he will not allow Judge
Danforth to make it an official document. As Danforth asks him why, John answers with a cry,
"How may I live without my name? Have given you my soul; leave me my name." John feels
strongly about having a good name and not dying with a bad one. Proctor weighs both sides of
his internal conflict and realizes that he cannot live with another lie, having seen the
consequences of living with the lie of adultery with Abigail Williams. Therefore, he sentences
himself to be hanged and at least passes his "good" name and some pride to his children. John
sacrificed his own life to avoid living in a lie. John believed that he could have redemption for all
his sinful acts in life by dying for his principles. It is this righteous death, that leaves John
Proctor as the 'hero' of the story, as he chooses his perception of good over the condemnation
from the village.
Mary Warren had a very crucial role in the play. Mary's actions allowed for people to be
arrested and charged with witchcraft. Mary Warren was the Proctor family's servant. She
replaced her former friend Abigail Williams, who was fired by Elizabeth Proctor, for committing
adultery with her husband, John. Mary was 17 years old and was very afraid of being charged
with witchcraft. Furthermore, Mary Warren was a young girl evidently stricken with terror and
inner conflict. Initially in this play, her character is perceived as a quiet and shy person, with her
initial intentions to do good and justice, as an "official of the court." She does kind deeds in the
play, such as when she made Elizabeth Proctor a doll, during the court proceedings. As the plot
thickens, Mary is shown as naïve and easily swayed by Abigail. She ends up getting caught up in
all the commotion and pandemonium of the town. She goes along with all the girls of the town
and lays blame on innocent people of witchery. She amazes herself with the power she can hold
when she points a finger towards the accused. Inside she knows that her actions are wrong and
cruel but she is too weak to be her own person. This guilt manifests itself in a physical way, as
Mary has no other release, "My insides are all shuddery, I am in the proceedings all day sir."
Mary decides to speak out against Abigail and the others for their false accusations and said that
she " tried to kill me many times". Yet as she does this heroic act, Abigail pretends that Mary is
also a witch using the doll (that Mary gave to Elizabeth,) against her. Mary is now faced with yet
another grueling internal conflict: to do what she knows is right and probably die for it, or to
return to her old ways. Mary succumbs to Abigail's "hypnosis " and accuses John Proctor of
forcing her to lie. The alliance of Mary with the girls, leads to Mary accusing Proctor of being a
witch. This is primarily because when questioned, Mary Warren's character is one of a deer
caught in the headlights, and she must find someone else to blame, to ensure her escape. This is
also a subconscious retaliation to the abuse from John in previous acts "Pay, pray, hurt me not
Mr Proctor." John is abusive toward Mary, in a way that lets him take his anger for Abigail
Williams out on Mary. She has no idea that this rage, revenge and alliance with the girls, will
condemn Proctor, and send him to his death in the gallows.
In conclusion, Arthur Miller's play was one that was based on several pivotal characters,
such as those of Mary Warren, John Proctor, and Reverend Hale. All of these characters, as I
have previously stated, had their own inner moral conflict. Mary's was the decision to ally with
Proctor or the girls, with which in the end, she chose the girls, and sent Proctor to his death. John
Proctor's conflict was to either confess to charges that he wasn't guilty of, or to die, as a martyr,
but with his good name. Hale's conflict was in watching Danforth hang those that he knew were
innocent of witchery, and not being powerful enough to stop it. Not only were these characters
pivotal in their individual roles, but together, their lives are intertwined, so conspiring to the final
outcome of the play. John Proctor and Mary Warren trigger each other off. Proctor takes out his
anger after fights with Elizabeth, on Mary. The outcome of these attacks, manifest themselves
both emotionally(in Mary's pent up frustration at being a good Christian girl,) and
physically(When Mary cannot attend court for a while, due to her 'sickness'.) Proctor's physical
and emotional treatment of women in general, but especially Mary, terrifies her into submission.
This, coupled with the menacing prospect of punishment from Abigail, is the reason that Mary
cracks, and accuses John as a witch. Reverend Hale and Proctor also affect each other greatly.
The ludicrous accusations and finally the arrest of John Proctor, are key factors in changing
Hale's opinions of the Salem witch trials and question the sincerity and power of Judge
Danforth. John's ever growing respect for Hale, due to the fact that he knows they are both
fighting the same battle, causes him to almost be swayed by Hale's and Elizabeth's pleas for his
life, instead of his name. It takes him to the point of almost confessing to Danforth. Only when
John must put his sins in writing, to be hung on the church door, does he tear up his confession,
choosing religious piety and his name, over his weighty life. Mary Warren and Hale don't really
cross paths significantly in the play, but one's actions affect the other. Hale's initial
persistence in finding out the cause of the girls' illnesses in Salem causes Tituba to confess, to
save her life. This has a knock on affect, and soon all of the girls are crying witch about many of
the women in the town. This turns into a hysterical witch-hunt, in which the girls must lie to
cover up previous lies. Because of the magnitude of the previous lies, the girls would do
anything to keep their personal lives a secret, and so Mary would not have felt the need to
condemn John to witchery to save herself. The actions of Mary Warren, causing John Proctor to
hang, affect Hale's life dramatically, making him question all that he has held dear (himself, the
fairness of the judicial system and his religion.) This was probably the most dramatic point in
Hale's life, and he soul searches himself to the point of leaving Salem promptly after Proctor's
hanging. So, this shows that all of these pivotal characters had a good deal of influence in the
way the play turned out individually, but more importantly, their individual actions
affected the others' actions, both creating and enhancing the obvious moral conflicts in The
Crucible.
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Bibliography:
Miller, Arthur- The Crucible
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