To interpret the behavior of the characters in The Crucible, we can analyze Kohlberg’s moral precepts. This essay will explain the characters’ motivation for their actions. To get a full understanding of The Crucible, the essay will include a variety of characters with distinct actions. Studying Kohlberg’s precepts allows us to understand behaviors that on the surface seem confusing or strange. Throughout the essay, we will begin to learn that people do these things due to pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional behavior.
There are numerous characters in The Crucible that illustrate pre-conventional behavior and actions. The idea of pre-conventional behavior is when you act in a way to avoid punishment or obtain a reward. The first character who displays these actions is Tituba. She displays pre-conventional behavior when she confesses to a crime, she is not guilty of. She does this because Reverend Parris threatens to “whip [Tituba] to [her] death.” To avoid being whipped, Tituba confesses to witchcraft. She decides that going to jail, whilst being innocent is better than death. Another pre-conventional character is Abigail Williams. She proves to be a pre-conventional character when she makes up stories of witchcraft. John Proctor claims she does this because she wants to “dance with [John] on [his] wife’s grave.” Abigail is in love with John Proctor, but he has a wife, Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail starts the rumors of witchcraft to kill Elizabeth without causing suspension on herself. Abigail eventually accused Elizabeth of witchcraft. She does this because her reward is to be with John. The last example that displays behavior to avoid punishment is Betty. She pretends to be cursed by witchcraft after she dances in the forest. Abigail knows Betty is pretending when she says, “Sit up and stop this.” Betty is faking being cursed because she knows dancing is highly punishable in the town of Salem. Betty only begins to talk and move again when she finds a way to not get disciplined for dancing in the woods. She accuses other women of witchcraft along with Abigail and Tituba. These characters are many examples highlighted of pre-conventional behaviors in The Crucible.
Many characters in The Crucible exemplify conventional behavior. These people behave in a specific way to obtain group acceptance. Mary Warren is the first conventional character. She tried to fit into the group of girls when she claimed she saw “spirits, spirits” in the courtroom. Mary Warren tries to fit in by pretending to see spirits created by witches. Mary is described in the play as a quiet, mousey girl. It would be hard for her to stand up to Abigail and the other girls due to these characteristics. The second character who displays the need for group acceptance is Mercy Lewis. She acts as if she can see the same spirits Abigail claims to see. She tells the court the spirit is “on the beam! Behind the rafter!” Mercy Lewis did this because Abigail did it. Abigail is the clear leader of the group of girls. If the girls want to fit in, they must do what Abby says is right. The final example of a conventional character is John Proctor. He proves he is conventional when he thinks he has “good reason to think before [he] charge[s] fraud on Abigail.” Abigail told John she does not believe in witches and is faking the attacks on herself. He hesitates to tell the court about this because it will lead to further questions about his and Abigail’s relationship. John does not want to confess his affair with Abigail because the people of Salem will judge him. If he were to confess, he would be considered a ‘bad Christian’ and socially excluded from the town of Salem. This paragraph has proved there are many examples to find conventional characters in The Crucible.
There are multiple examples in The Crucible that illustrate post-conventional characters. Post-conventional is when a person behaves in a way that reflects their internal value system. This is without regard for punishment, reward, or group acceptance. The first example from The Crucible of a character with this behavior is John Hale. John Hale reflects post-conventional behavior when he exclaims, that he “quit[s] this court!” The court system was immensely powerful and only benefitted Reverend Hale. The court could have punished Hale for quitting. Claiming he was against the court, meaning he was ‘with the devil.’ Despite this, Hale quit the court due to his moral standards. He believes the people of Salem are innocent of witchcraft and the court is unjust. He feels guilty for the people who have been punished for a crime they did not commit. He quit the court to show his dislike for the justice system. The court made him powerful, yet he grew as a character and cared more for his personal values. This proves he acts solely on his morals. Giles Corey is another post-conventional character. Corey “cannot give” the court the name of the man who informed him Ruth Putnam was being deceptive for her father to get more land. The court results in arresting Corey and torturing him in an attempt to get the name. Corey resists the torture because he believes to protect the person who gave him the information. He does not want the informer to get arrested. He does this due to his own moral code. He dies as a result of upholding his moral standards and not giving the name. The last post-conventional character is Rebecca Nurse. She refuses to confess to witchcraft because “it is a lie.” Rebecca Nurse is a character of high morals. She is a ‘perfect Christian’ throughout the play. Rebecca believes that confessing to a crime she is innocent of will make her a ‘bad Christian.’ The court begs her to confess to witchcraft to avoid her hanging. Due to her moral standards, Rebecca would rather die than lie and confess to witchcraft. These three characters perfectly reflect post-conventional behavior due to their personal moral standards and refusal to succumb to punishment, reward, or group acceptance.
In this essay, we used Kohlberg’s moral precepts to get an in-depth understanding of the characters in The Crucible. This essay clearly explains why the characters behaved in these unusual ways. Further, it explained pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional behavior and how it applied to each character individually. One can now understand the motivation these characters had for their actions.
