Arthur Miller Case

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, there is a great deal of one's principles being chosen over their own life. The Puritans believed that if you lie, then you're eternally damned. Those who were involved in the Salem Witch Trials didn't have to die but rather, they chose to save their soul instead of their lives. The girls started the whole uproar about witchcraft even though it wasn't true at all, and compromised their values. "Another judgement awaits us all." said by Rebecca Nurse, was another compromise along with John Proctor saying "How can I teach my children to walk in the world like men, and I sold my friend?"

When the witchcraft started to get out of hand, the girls lied to save their own lives thus, completely disregarding the beliefs of the Puritans. They said while in the court rooms that spirits were making them do awful, painful things. They also said that the person that was on trial was doing it to them. This was all clearly a lie. I think that once things started to get out of hand, the girls felt as if things were too big to go back on now, so they had to ride it out and in doing so, it costed many people their lives along the way.

While the girls were all dancing in the woods, they should have come clean with it in the first place. All of the girls blamed Tituba for making them dance. Tituba didn't believe in the Puritans' beliefs, so she lied, said she was a witch, and got let free. The Girls that started it all didn't know how bad things would get, and because of it, many people lost their lives.

Rebecca Nurse said "Another judgement awaits us all." while she was about to die after being accused of witchcraft. Rebecca Nurse was a very pious woman who devoted her life to God. It's no wonder that she took the death sentence instead of lying. The Puritans had very strict beliefs that if you told a lie, you would be cast down to hell. I think that most of the people that did in this book were so pious, that death wasn't viewed by them as so big, bad tragic experience but rather, a blessing so they could be with God again. Even though she did nothing, Nurse didn't try to save her own life by lying. I feel like she was more scared of losing her soul rather than her life. She died for her beliefs, and as a reader I have to respect that. Rebecca Nurse died for a noble cause, and she had the presence of mind not to think about her own looming mortality, but about the next life to come.

John Proctor was conflicted. What made him change his mind about his confession? Was it the fact that the confession would be nailed to the door of the church? Was he feeling like a major hypocrite? Or was he being absolutely selfish in his decision? Many people could view John's choice to die instead of lie as an absolutely selfish act. He had a family to provide