The Crucible Essay

When you’re scared, sometimes it’s hard to go with your gut feeling, right? It may be hard to stick up for yourself, or stand up for what is right. This is the feeling most of The Crucible characters probably felt. Reverend Parris, Abigail Williams, and John Proctor are good examples of how fear and hysteria can destroy good judgment. Reverend Parris had one of the most difficult times with keeping his good judgment, especially since he was supposed to be leading the church in Salem. Since nobody in the town really liked Parris anyways, when rumors started spreading about his daughter and niece using witchcraft, he came to be terrified. He thought they would try to over throw him as minister. Parris did anything he could to save his reputation such as interfering with the trials. This concludes why, in the end, Reverend Parris can never succeed in being a good person. Abigail Williams is similar to Parris in the fact that she is scared out of her mind. Even before the story even started, there was chaos with her. Having an affair with john proctor made her scared about her job and his wife, Elizabeth. Her good judgment was destroyed at this point because then she goes out into the woods with other girls and performs witchcraft. Then when she was accused of it, she lies and blames other people of the town, instead of owning up to it. Not to mention why she was doing the witchcraft to begin with, to kill Elizabeth Proctor. She did all of this because she was scared. Last but not least is John Proctor. Again, after he had an affair with Abigail Williams, he became frightened for many reasons. He didn’t like that he was now titled a hypocrite, and he was scared of his wife finding out. This destroys his good judgment because now, he is lying about everything. In the end, however, John Proctor confesses to the affair and is forgiven, which is a good example for everyone. John dies with a clean slate. In conclusion, The Crucible shows the effects of fear on a