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Abigail's Manipulation In The Crucible

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Abigail's Manipulation In The Crucible
The Effects of Manipulation
The Crucible is a very complex story with several interlocking themes. It is so diverse that it can connect to modern day issues and give an accurate parallel to current events. Out of all the themes in the book, there are some that are very prominent and can easily connect to the other smaller themes. The focus of will be on how Abigail's manipulation and deceit took advantage of others willingness to conform causing mass hysteria. Abigail has many issues that she tries to solve using manipulation. She controls others in an attempt to feel like she is in control of her life.. Throughout the story, she attempts to manipulate John Proctor. She keeps failing, as shown in Act 1 lines 409-410, where she says “You come five miles to see a silly girl fly? I know you better.”(Miller 197) After Abigail said that, Proctor replied by telling her to forget about it. Since Proctor would not fall for her tricks, Abigail decided to move on to other people. Abigail had a small group
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She fell victim to Abigail's manipulation, which lead to her to go against Proctor, and accuse him of witchcraft. Just after telling the court that what the girls were doing was pretend, she joins the girls in accusing people of witchcraft once again. This is found in line 1109 in Act 3, which says, ”You’re the devils man!” (Miller 198) That quote is said by Mary when she is accusing Proctor of writing in the devil’s book. Mary, however, is only a small part of a larger group of people who are accustomed to conformity. The girls that follow around Abigail are even more guilty of it. They follow her every word, and meet all her expectations. For example, when she says faint, they faint. This is shown in line 1110 in Act 3 where Parris says, ”Praise God.” and the girls respond immediately with, ”Praise God.”(Miller 198) The girls knew what Abigail would have wanted them to do, so they happily complied without a second

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