Christine Pratt Period 2 10/30/2011

Crucible Essay Prompt B

Many Characters in the Crucible express dishonesty, opportunism, fear, and deceit. Most of all the characters John Proctor and Abigail Williams show these characteristics. Abigail and John are both trying to hide their affair from the public for personal gain and they both want to be safe and out of jail. They both have reasons for why they do what they do but it all turns around on them in the end.

John Proctor shows dishonesty by how hides his sins from everyone around him. The only people that know about the affair are John, Elizabeth, and Abigail. Elizabeth found out about Johns affair with Abigail and threw Abigail out of their house for it. Johns dishonesty has caused a awkward relationship in between him and his wife. In Act two Elizabeth is trying to get John to go to court and tell them of Abigail lies but he doesnt want to do because he is afraid of revealing himself.

Abigail Williams is a opportunist. Whenever she sees an opportunity to take control of something she takes advantage of it. For example when Mary was trying to reveal them Abigail found a way to make Mary seem like the witch. Abigail started to yell at Mary not to send out her spirit and then once she got all of the girls to follow her she started to repeat everything Mary said. Abigail is the queen of Opportunism.

Fear is shown by both John and Abigail. Abigail is afraid of John revealing her and getting her in trouble with the court for being a fraud and a liar. In Act two Scene two John first scares Abigail by threatening her with revealing her to everyone and tell the court about their affair. John and Abigail are both fearful when John tells the court about the affair and they bring in his wife to confirm it. Both John and Abigail had to have their backs turned to Elizabeth when she came in and couldnt give her any signal of what to say to the court. John was afraid that Elizabeth would hold up his pride and not be completely honest while Abigail was afraid that she would tell the truth and get her in trouble.

By the end of the play these traits get both John and Abigail very deep in the mud. Abigail ends up stealing money from her uncle and running away so that she is never hung for her lies. While John ends up getting accused as a wizard and goes to jail and hung at the very end of the play. In this play dishonesty, opportunism, fear, and deceit drive many characters into many bad outcomes.