To properly understand the actions made by characters in The Crucible, as well as the motivations for their actions, one may look to Kolberg’s moral perceptions for answers. This paper will discuss the connections that can be made between actions made by certain characters in The Crucible, and Kolberg’s Moral Perceptions. There are three moral perceptions, those being pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. Each of these perceptions will be discussed in detail. This paper will define, discuss, and detail the places in which Kolberg’s moral perceptions assists in the explanation of a character’s actions.

               There are a few examples of pre-conventional characters in The Crucible. Pre-conventionality describes someone who take actions meant to avoid punishment, or to obtain a reward. The fist pre-conventional character to be discussed is Betty, who, At the beginning of Act One, is seemingly unconscious on a bed after the night out with Abigail Went awry. As the act progresses, it is revealed that Betty is actually faking her “condition” when she reacts to Abigail yelling at her to “…sit up and stop this.” Betty is acting pre-conventional in this situation because, from her perspective, if she doesn’t move then nothing bad will happen to her, therefore, she will avoid punishment. Another example of a character whose actions exist only to gain a reward or to avoid punishment is Reverend Parris at the start of Act Four, as he realizes his actions over the last three months has caused the town to turn on him. Pleading with a high-ranking Judge who may be able to make another character, John Proctor, confess to witchcraft, Mr. Parris elaborates on this belief, stating that “tonight, when I open my door to me house, a dagger clattered to the ground. You cannot hang this sort. There is danger for me.” The people Mr. Parris is referring to when he says “this sort” are well-liked community figures whose deaths would lead to widespread unrest, possibly leading to Mr. Parris losing his job, or worse, as the public realizes that he was one of the main catalysts for the whole thing. The final character to act in this manner is Thomas Putnam, who sent his daughter to accuse his neighbor or witchcraft to get their land. He is accused of this action by Giles Corey, who states that he “coldly prompted [his] own daughter to cry witchery on George Jacobs.” Thomas Putnam sent his own daughter to lie about another man, his close neighbor, in the hopes that the man would be executed for witchcraft so that he would be able to steal his land, as no one would have ownership of it after his death. There are many characters in The Crucible whose actions only exist to avoid punishment or to gain a reward, and these are just a few of them.

               There are also multiple examples of conventional characters in The Crucible. A character is conventional if they behave in a way to fit into a group. One conventional character is Mary Warren in Act Two, during the witch trials that occur between Acts One and Two. Mary, referring to the actions a defendant supposedly took during the trial earlier that day, says that “in open court she nearly choked us all to death.” Mary is part of the group of young girls who first began to accuse others of witchcraft, and has, up to this point in the story, been acting in a way that helps her fit into that group, by acting along with everyone else both inside and outside of court. Another character who acts in a way to fit in with a wider group is Giles Corey. Giles, upon seeing people accuse others of witchcraft, asks Reverand Hale, the outside “help” for the growing problem, the significance of the “readin’ of strange books.” This question was about his wife, who had been reading books in the presence of Giles, who was distracted from his prayer. Giles asks this question because everyone else had been talking about similar things, inadvertently accusing his own wife of witchcraft. Finally, going back to the previously mentioned group of girls, this time at the end of Act One, when betty wakes up for the first time after hearing everyone talk about witches. Betty, Abigail, Mary Warren, and all the other girls present in the room at the time all begin to scream that, during their outing with Tituba the previous night, they “saw [name] with the Devil,” [name] being a number of different people. Because of Abigail’s actions leading betty to cry out and accuse someone of witchcraft, every other young girl in the room does the same thing, to fit in, because everyone else is doing it. Conventionality is a common trait in The Crucible, and these characters and groups display it vividly.

               The Crucible also shows examples of post-conventional characters. A post-conventional character behaves in a way that conforms to their own internal belief system without regard for reward, punishment, or group acceptance. The first example of post-conventionality is found in John Proctor, near the end of Act Four, right before he is executed. Proctor is made to sign a confession stating that he committed witchcraft, but, before the confession can be taken away, he states that he cannot let the confession be seen, “because it is my name. because I cannot have another.” Referring to the fact that he cannot “give away” his name to a lie, John rips the confession up, sealing his fate. John Proctor is executed for the crime of witchery because he could not allow himself to lie about something he did not do, dying for his beliefs. The next character to stick to their beliefs with unwavering certainty is Judge Danforth during Act Three. The judge believes that “witchcraft is ipso facto, on its face and by its nature, an invisible crime,” meaning that the only ‘trustworthy’ witness is the victim, which is unfair to the accused because they cannot hope to defend themselves in any meaningful way. Nevertheless, Judge Danforth overlooks this because he is the highest authority in the town at that point, and wants to continue being that high authority, which he can only be if there is a near-permanent state of unrest due to the witch-craze, going so far as to deny the validity of evidence in favour of the accused to stay in power. The final character who acts in this way is Reverend Hale at the end of Act Three. Hale, after becoming increasingly disillusioned with the judicial system and process in Salem, yelling “I quit this court,” in a fit of anger and walking off, only coming back at the start of Act Four, three months later. The Reverend gives up on the court due to conflicts between him and Judge Danforth, he wants proper justice in a way that Danforth doesn’t want to give (for reasons explained above), so Hale leaves, giving up his position of power because of this disagreement.

               Kolberg’s moral perceptions are integral to understanding the behavior, motivations, and emotions of many of the characters in The Crucible. This paper discussed examples of pre-conventionality, conventionality, and post-conventionality in many of the characters in the play to explain their actions in the story. A good understanding of the motivations behind these actions is essential to comprehending the play as a whole. There are many examples of characters doing something to receive a reward, avoid punishment, fit into a group, or to conform to their own belief system. Making the connection between one characters actions and another is crucial to understand both characters actions in-depth.