The purpose of this article is to provide further understanding into the characters in Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” A slew of characters in the play act in peculiar ways that may perplex the reader. Using Kohlberg’s moral precepts, however, one may better understand the reasons behind the characters’ behaviours as they are depicted. Three distinct sorts of moral precepts will be examined and utilized to understand the motivations of each of the characters in this article. Preconventional, conventional, and postconventional are the three categories.
The Crucible essay
To fully understand characters in The Crucible, you must use Kollberg’s moral precepts to help fully understand their reasoning and motivation for their actions.
There are many examples within the play that display characters expressing pre-conventional behavior. When a character is pre-conventional it means that they behave in a certain way to avoid punishment and obtain rewards. Mary Warren is the first illustration. She frequently flip-flops and chooses sides to protect herself. Mary is informed Abby wants to charge murder on her. Abby used the chance to pretend that Mary was creating a voodoo doll while she was making a poppet in church. When Mary is finished, she inserts the needle into the poppet, and Abby plays the victim of a stab wound. Mary was unaware that Abby had planned this when Hale arrived at the house to investigate the situation and discovered the poppet. Mary is residing at the Proctor residence. John instructs Mary to testify in court and tell the truth because he does not want anyone in his home to be the subject of any further suspicion. He wants Mary to take the initiative and accuse Abby of murder because she tried to have Mary arrested, which would have resulted in Mary being slain. “Abby will kill me for saying that!” Mary warns. “Abby’ll charge lechery on you, Mister Proctor!” This single sentence allows her to avoid punishment from the court and Mr. Proctor at the same time. Mary does not want to deal with Abby and the other girls, regardless of whether Proctor is ultimately accused of lechery.
Later, in the story Tituba is forced to confess to witchcraft and conjuring spirits with the girls in the woods. She is in this situation because the other girls have made an unspoken contract and she is a convenient scapegoat. Tituba is offered a choice; if she refuses to confess, she will be executed for summoning spirits and refusing to beg God’s pardon. She will be severely punished but will live if she does confess. Tituba is recounting how the devil visited her and caused her to have irrational ideas regarding Mr. Parris, including the desire to kill him, in the phrase “he says Mr. Parris must be killed!” She tells Hale and Reverend Parris, “I tell him I don’t desire to work for him, sir,” making it plain that she does not want to be held accountable for the thoughts the Devil gave her.
The fact that Abigail exhibits this trait as well is what ultimately causes Tituba to feel cornered and forced to admit to being a witch. Abigail was equally, if not more, responsible for the girls’ initial decision to visit the woods. For different personal reasons, they all wanted to disobey the law and conjure spirits, but Tituba was seen as the leader because of her Barbadian background. The girls exploited Tituba’s knowledge of voodoo to their advantage since they realized that if they were caught, she would be the ideal person to blame. This was due to Tituba’s status as a lady of colour and a slave. Abigail instantly accuses Tituba of forcing the girls to participate when they are questioned about her involvement, saying, “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!” This puts a lot of strain on Tituba since at this point of time, people are more likely to believe a white child who also happens to be related to the town’s minister over a black slave.
The story includes numerous examples of characters behaving in a conventional manner. A conventional character is one who acts in a certain way to fit in and be respected by a group. Mercy Lewis is the first case in point. Mercy is a malleable character; Abby often has power over her. This is demonstrated in court when all the girls are present because Abby wants to accuse Mary of murder. When Mary testifies that the girls are all frauds, Abigail is calculated in her attempt to sway the court against her. When Mary claims she had never been attacked by spirits and admits to acting along with the other girls throughout the trial, Abby’s defense mechanism is to act as if Mary’s spirit is threatening her life. Abby has a certain amount of control over the other girls, consequently it is obvious that whatever Abby is planning will be carried out. “Your honour, I freeze!” exclaims Mercy Lewis. Making their diversion plausible enough for the court to shift suspicion away from them and onto Mary.
Hale also longs to be believed in and accepted by the people of Salem. Hale is an outsider who was sent to Salem to determine whether or not there are witches among them. He arrives in a town full of strangers who may not completely trust his knowledge of the subject. He brought a lot of books with him, so John Proctor offered to help him carry them inside. Proctor remarks that they are very heavy. Hale appears to put himself on a pedestal and responds, “they must be; they are weighted with authority.” At this point in the play, I do not believe Hale has gotten to know the townspeople well enough to care about how distressed they are over how bad he wants to be seen as a figure of authority and higher knowledge. The people of Salem are desperate for a Saviour, and Hale aspires to be a hero. However, I am not sure if it is for all the right reasons at this time.
John Proctor portrays himself as a tough, skilled man, yet he longs to be accepted and seen as a good fellow by his society. He is an insecure man who hides it behind a tough façade. This is proved several times during the play, but the part that stood out to me the most was when Elizabeth encouraged him to go into town and inform the court that Abigail stated the girls went into the woods to dance and sing, and she claimed it had nothing to do with witchcraft. They recognize how unjust Abigail’s decision to turn against Mary was since Abigail knew they were going to conjure spirits. Abigail turned on Mary because she wanted to confess what they had done that night in the woods. John’s issue is whether to assist Mary’s cause with Abigail or to remain silent and conceal his crime of lechery in the interim. Elizabeth tries to persuade John to go by telling him he can’t hide this from the court, appealing to his guilty conscience. His only response was “I’ll think on it.” He wants to do the right thing but doesn’t want to come to terms with the fact that he cheated on his wife.
The narrative features various examples of characters acting in post conventional ways. A post conventional trait is when you behave in a way that illustrates your beliefs. You have no concern for punishment, reward or group acceptance. Betty Parris is a prime example of someone who possesses this characteristic. Betty is not shown as a post conventional character throughout the play; she is frequently pushed around, particularly by Abigail. She appears meek, which might be because she is one of the younger characters or because she has been traumatized by what is happening in her town. When she ultimately confronts Abby about her falsehoods close to the end of Act one, she expresses to her, Mary Warren, and Mercy Lewis that she is aware of what had occurred and that it is weighing heavily on her conscience. She says, “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife!.” I believe the older girls do not take witchcraft as seriously as Betty and Ruth do. This is acceptable given that the other girls are considerably older and have grown tired of living life the way they have always been instructed. Ruth and Betty are younger and more impressionable, yet they are nonetheless afraid of breaching regulations for this reason. When Betty says this, Abby is brought back to reality, revealing how afraid her younger cousin is of what may happen to them.
John Proctor is also someone not portrayed as a post-conventional character throughout the play; he was very pre-conventional until Act two. He starts questioning his sanity a bit, and his ability to continue to hide his crime of lechery. Elizabeth Proctor is called to court, and Mary Warren is caught between John, Abigail, and her integrity. In desperation for Elizabeth’s life, John Proctor says to Mary “we will slide together into our pit; You will tell the court what you know.” Mary telling the court the full truth will reveal Abby’s true intentions but will have to include her motivation. Abby’s motivation to conjure spirits was to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Knowing the consequences of the truth and the lies, John, and Mary freeze in their internal battles. John follows through and Mary tells the court everything. This is John letting go of is image and doing the right thing for a selfless reason.
John Proctor’s wife, Eizabeth, has always been a post conventional character as well. We first encounter her through the words of Abigail, who describes her as a biter, lying, cold, sniveling woman. But we later learn Abigail instead could be all those things instead. Elizabeth is someone who was true to herself and her beliefs always, she had been described by John as a woman who would never lie. She ends up becoming even more wise and a better person at the end of the play, though she ends the play even sadder than at the beginning, because she becomes a widow. She had sacrificed her own beliefs to save John because she saw a change in him. When their plan to save each other backfired, John ends up accused and sent off to be hanged. Elizabeth had to come to terms with the outcome and although Rev. Hale begs Elizabeth to go after John, she declines and says “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him.” Acknowledging that John is at last, what they both wanted him to be: a good man.