The Crucible Blog

So let's just all play the blame game here. That is all that seemed to happen in "The Crucible" which takes place during the Salem Witch Trials. It was like a bunch of kids blaming each other for who actually broke the window. Once a person was blamed of being a witch, of course they could not let the opportunity pass, so they blamed another person of being a witch. This just kept going on and on until it seemed like everyone had some part to do in it. Then there were the smart people I guess you could say like Mr. Putnam who would blame people so he could buy up their land, or the people who blamed others to get even in a personal feud between each other. The situation was a mess and Danforth and Hathorne really did not improve it with the hangings of the convicted. Where is Judge Judy when you need her?

I believe that the theme and generally the moral of this story is that one little lie can start a snowball of lies. We see this when the girls start lying about how some of the women in the town are witches. They may think nothing of it at the time, but most of these women end up hanging in the end. These little lies snowball and everyone in the whole town is lying and blaming someone of being a witch. We have heard the idea how a little white lie can turn into a bunch of other lies thousands of times, but "The Crucible" really takes that idea full circle. Almost 20 people died from the lying of some young girls. This situation was stupid and ridiculous and you cannot hardly even believe that it is a true story as you read it.

I find it amazing that Abigail could live with herself after blaming so many innocent people and starting this whole thing. She was the only person who I believe should have been hung. The situation of blaming would never have started if she would not have started naming off people who she claimed were witches at Betty's bedside. This then started the other girls to start naming people and so on. She also blamed Proctor's wife just so she could be with Proctor and take the place of his wife. Abigail even stabbed herself in the chest with a needle to prove her point that Proctor's wife had a "poppet" that she used to torture her.

One thing I do not get though in this novel is why the person would live if they confessed. You would think they would be hung if they confessed, not let off the hook. I know that today, if you confess to a crime, you will get a little lesser of a punishment, but you will not get off the hook entirely. I guess I could see though why that is because if you confessed, your name would be tarnished forever. A tarnished name back then was just as bad as hanging or being dead in that matter, so confessing would probably be punishment enough, but I still do not understand this reasoning.

In all, this was a book that taught a good lesson. Lying is never a good thing.