Examples Of Hypocrisy In The Crucible

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The majority of us, if not everyone, does something hypocritical at one point in our lives. Whether it’s talking about someone behind their back, or doing something we said we wouldn’t ever do. Even though we know the effects of what we do it doesn’t stop us from doing it at the moment. Just like in The Crucible by Arthur Miller even though lying is considered a sin it does not stop the characters from doing so. There is a lot of hypocrisy in The Crucible, one of the most hypocritical and ironic part played in The Crucible is the church and court. The Church and the court both state that all liars will be damned, but the court asks the people accused of being witches to lie about being a witch or else they will kill them. Danforth who is …show more content…
In Act I she states “I want to open myself! ... I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” Such line was said by Abigail Williams where claims to be an innocent and honest girl but really is making false accusations against everyone that gets in her way. She needed to invent an excuse for the girl’s behavior in the woods that momentous night, and coerced the girls to lie about what actually happened. "And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things,and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents' heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down! She goes to Betty and roughly sits her up. Now, you—sit up and stop this!". This shows how she is enlisting fear into the girls to get them to do what she …show more content…
Parris preaches about hell and barely mentions the forgiveness of God. Reverend Parris states "The salary is 66 pound, Mr. Proctor! I am not some preaching farmer with a book under my arm; I am a graduate of Harvard College.". He never seems satisfied with the money he receives even though he is always lying. Additionally, in the beginning of the play we immediately realize that he is selfish. Pariss is talking to abigail and says "But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will and they will ruin me with it". As you can see, Parris only cares about his reputation in the town and not so much that Betty can’t wake up. Although he should be concerned with all the lives of innocent townspeople who are about to be hanged he is only worried about his name.
Finally, hypocrisy seems to be the issue in the town of Salem. We see hypocrisy in the lives of the religious leaders, Reverends, the townspeople , the rich and greedy, as well as in the lives of the guilty. This shows how even the people who know that they are doing something wrong, do it
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