The Importance Of A Good Name In Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Written in 1952, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, draws a parallel between the 1692 Salem witch trials and the six year McCarthyism era of the 1950’s in America. The play explores the concept of reputation and the importance of a good name to a substantial extent. It is highlighted incredibly deeply and diversely by showcasing a situation which is consumed by the significance of this theme entirely. Reputation and the importance of a good name is extremely valued in the community of Salem. Almost all characters in the play have made decisions purely on the basis of how it will affect their reputation. The accusations of witchcraft by naming others in order to deflect suspicion from a characters own name adds another layer to the intensity that …show more content…
The naming of names and accusations of witchcraft was one of the prime examples of the extreme ‘weight’ that ones name held to how they were viewed and treated by the community. Abigail is a prime example of a character who heavily demonstrated the procedure of accusing others in the hope of attention deflection. She constantly accuses whoever she can in order to diverge suspicion from herself and protect her own name, “my name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is soiled.” (Act 1 pg 21). Reputation also dictated how quickly you were believed to be accused of witchcraft. For example, Tituba was the perfect scapegoat for Abigail, as her race gave her the lowest social status in Salem. Therefore, it was easily believed that she was guilty of witchcraft. This was similar to the case of Sarah Good and Goody Osburne who had low social statuses in Salem. Abigail knew this, and intelligently yet selfishly decided to blame them as she understood that reputation greatly impacted who was believed to be guilty of witchcraft or not. Miller uses juxtaposition to highlight to the audience how reputation can impact the extent that one is believed or …show more content…
He uses many positioning techniques to portray how reputation was highly valued in Salem. However towards the end of the trials reputation and good name became less evident as one of the most highly regarded individuals in Salem was accused and killed. Miller uses this as a juxtaposition to portray how the severity of situation was able to overcome any value that name and reputation once held in the community. Author Arthur Miller gave some insight on the devaluing of name and reputation as the trials and accusations continue, stating; “As for Rebecca herself - general opinion of her character was so high that to explain how anyone dared cry her out for a witch” (act 1 pg 31). This shows how even character who have the highest amount of respect held to their name are able of complete downfall. Miller explores the concept of reputation and the importance of a good name to a very large extent. He expressed it on many different levels within the circumstance as well as using a range of techniques such as dialogue and juxtaposition to further explore the