Reputation in The Crucible Essay

REPUTATION

Warren Buffet once said, It takes years to build a reputation, and only 5 minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, youll do things differently. The essence of this reflection is portrayed in the award winning play, the Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. In the play, the people of Salem understand that their reputations are their most valuable assets, an asset which can take a lifetime to build and one small mistake to jeopardise. Reputation is defined as an opinion, or social evaluation of the public towards a person, a group of people, or an organisation. These opinions can be formed through a number of reasons, whether it be the way people treat others, the manner in which they present themselves, there integrity and prosperity or perhaps by any good they have done in the community.

In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, three characters John Proctor, judge Danforth, and Abigail Williams all understand the significance of keeping a good name, and all 3 of these characters go to extreme lengths in order to uphold their reputation. Certainly, one of the most telling examples of this was the selfishness of John Proctor, who could have stopped the executions of almost 150 people, including him, just by confessing about his affair with Abigail Williams. He says, Because it speaks deceit and I am honest! But Ill plead no more! I now see your spirit twists around the single error of my life, and I will never tear it free! As he regrets his awful mistake that had put his love Elisabeth in danger. John Proctor did not want to ruin his name by confessing lechery and by the time he did, too many lies had been told not even the guilty truth could fix the problem. Then, even he could not stop Abigails rampage through Salem. It is men and women like John Proctor and Abigail Williams, the Selfish people of Salem who are to blame for their own downfall.

Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth is a pretentious and selfish judge, who is extremely loyal to the rules and regulations of his position. Public opinion and his acute adherence to the law are most important to him. He seems to secretly know that the witch trials in Salem are all a lie yet will not release any of the prisoners because he is afraid of being viewed as weak and having his reputation undermined. When Proctor knowingly defies his authority by refusing to lie and sign a public confession saying that he is guilty of witchcraft and accusing others, Danforth immediately sentences to hang along with the other prisoners including Rebecca Nurse. The egocentricity of Thomas Danforth causes many innocent men and women to be executed, and allows him dismiss the truth, which is that Abigail was lying, yet Danforth did nothing, for the sake of his own reputation.

Abigail was once the maid for the Proctor house, but Elizabeth Proctor fired her after she discovered that Abigail was having an affair with her husband, John Proctor. Abigail and her uncle's slave, Tituba, lead the local girls in love-spell rituals in the Salem forest over a fire. Rumours of witchcraft fly, and Abigail tries to use the town's fear to her advantage. She viciously accuses many of witchcraft, starting first with the outcasts of society and gradually moving up to respected members of the community. Abigail manages to sabotage many reputations, yet at the same time, seems to strengthen her own. Finally, she accuses Elizabeth Proctor, because she believes that John truly loves her and not Elizabeth. Abigail thinks that if Elizabeth is out of the way, she and John can marry. John says in the play that Abigail "hopes to dance with me upon my wife's grave." Eventually Abigail flees Salem, moving to Boston, becoming a prostitute. After hearing Tituba confess to witchcraft, Abigail sees this as an opportunity to get herself out of the spotlight, even though she was with the other girls in the forest. And after clearing her name, she wanted to move the blame on. She starts accusing falsely the other people of being witches. After witnessing the success of Abigails lies, the other girls followed suit, shifting the blame to avoid punishment.

The only way which the townspeople of Salem that were accused of witchcraft could escape the death penalty, was by accepting that they were a witch. Upon admitting this, one would lose their good name, to some people of Salem; Death was the better option.

We have to look at the society of Salem and pity them because of the repressions that made order and freedom imbalanced, as we are going to be pitied some day.