How Do People Lie To Maintain Their Reputation In The Crucible

The Crucible In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, people lie to save their lives, to save the lives of others, and to maintain their reputation, and these lies negatively impact the characters in the play. For example, after being discovered in the woods and with the realization they will be punished, Abigail and her friends accuse Tituba and other townspeople of witchcraft. When Tituba senses that the blame is on her shoulders, she proceeds to accuse Sarah Good. Once the witch hunt is underway, Mary Warren blames John Proctor of witchcraft to save herself. This selfish motive of self-preservation was witnessed in the Lewinsky scandal in the year 1998, when it was rumored President Bill Clinton was involved in an affair with White House employee Monica Lewinsky. Clinton famously uttered, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman,” a lie meant to save himself that ultimately led to his impeachment. …show more content…
He is oblivious to the possibility of people being innocent of witchcraft because some have been hanged for it, and he does not want to oppose the demands of Abigail’s new jurisdiction. In court, Danforth claims, “We burn a hot fire here; it melts down all concealment” (Miller 83). This resolution, meant to maintain the reputation of the court, concludes that the witch trials are purifying, which is false, because they are truly damaging. This benightedness is evident in the interpretation of the fourteenth amendment, which asserts that all men are equal. Government officials attempt to uphold the United States’ reputation of racial equality by overstating this amendment. In reality work conditions are often unequal; white men are regularly paid more than minority