The Crucible Blog

      The Crucible is an American playwright written by Arthur Miller. The Crucible is a fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials. There are numerous characters that I consider flawed in the play. Eventually, their flaws caused the Salem witch trials. I define flawed in The Crucible as a sin. During the Salem witch trials many showed their flaws, a few of the flaws characters showed were: greed, vengeance, fear, lust, etc.

      Reverend Hale is the least flawed character in The Crucible. He was supposedly an expert of witchcraft and he was called in to Salem to investigate the possibility of witchcraft within the town. Even though Reverend Hale felt the need to manage any possibility of witchcraft with aplomb, in Act 4, he states, “I come to do the Devil’s work. I come to counsel Christians they should believe in themselves. There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!!” which demonstrated that he grew out of his pride and felt remorse for the innocent people that were condemned to die.

      Mr. Putnam had a major flaw, his flaw was greed. His greed for power and land forced him to give up other’s names in order to save his own. In Act 1, Mr. Putnam states, “We vote by name in this society, not by acreage.” In this quote he encourages Reverend Parris to search for witches in Salem, as he implies that the children he lost were taken by the Devil. Mr. Putnam was a highly flawed character but I do not consider him to be the most flawed.

      Mary Warren’s spineless nature is shown when she is under pressure of being questioned by John Proctor, John Proctor says to her, "Do that which is good, and no harm shall come to thee." In this quote he is saying that if she tells the truth to the court about how Abigail and the other girls are lying to everyone, she will not get punished. But in the court she is faced with the possibility of being hanged and she accuses John Proctor of witchcraft. Mary Warren is one of the most flawed characters in the play, because she had bigger flaws than many characters in the play.

      Reverend Parris had various flaws, he lived in fear of his enemies and he was power-hungry. His greed is shown when he insisted on getting golden candlesticks for the church. He lived in fear, in Act 1 he says, ''We cannot leap to witchcraft. They will howl me out of Salem for such corruption in my house.'' when speaking to Abigail. He was only worried about what could have happened to him if his enemies found out his niece was in the woods during witchcraft. Another of his many flaws is lying. He covered for Abigail throughout the play, of course, he was only doing it for his own benefit.

     Judge Danforth was a corrupted and powerful man. He could have stopped the Salem witch trials but he did weigh the evidence given to him. In Act 4, Danforth almost gets the last word in the play, he says, “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for these, weeps for corruption!” He was unable to see that he played a great part in the Salem witch trials. His character is a great example of what can happen to people when they abuse their power.

     Abigail is the second most flawed character in The Crucible from the beginning of the play, it was noticeable that she would do anything to get her way, even if that meant hurting others. She has major flaws such as: dishonesty, selfishness, and lust. In act 1, Abigail and John Proctor are together, and she tells him, “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart. I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!” Abigail is still in love with him and she wants John Proctor to tell her that he loves her, even though he is a married man. All of the decisions and actions Abigail takes throughout the play show her obsession with him.

     I consider John Proctor to be the most flawed character in the play, as he struggled to find peace with himself from the beginning to the end. John Proctor’s biggest flaw was his pride, which he showed numerous times during this play. In Act 4, John Proctor states, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang!” This quote shows how prideful of a man he was, he would rather hang than to damn his own name.