The purpose of this essay is to discuss the play, The Crucible. In particular, what will be discussed is characters in the Crucible that behave in a confusing manner. This behaviour can best be described and understood by using Kohlberg’s moral precepts for explanation. Specifically, Kohlberg has three distinct descriptions of perspectives that are taken by individuals that motivate them to behave in certain ways. These three categories are pre-conventional behaviour, conventional behaviour, and post conventional behaviour. All three categories are factors that are considered when individuals decide to act in any given situation. If we understand the consideration and action, we will be able to achieve a better understanding for each character.
There are many characters in The Crucible that are pre-conventional. Pre-conventional is when you behave in a certain way to obtain reward and avoid punishment. Firstly, Tituba is a pre-conventional character. This moral principle of Tituba is displayed when her master Reverend Parris threatens to “whip [her] to [her] death.” In order to avoid the ultimate punishment of death Tituba lies and confesses to conspiring with the devil. Tituba realizes that confessing to something she has not done is the only way to survive, showing her pre-conventional approach to the situation. Moreover, Betty behaves in a way that allows her to avoid punishment. When Betty says that she saw “George Jacobs with the devil!” Betty being a scared young girl, had been faking a mysterious illness in bed to avoid being punished for sneaking out into the woods. She knows this act is only a temporary solution so when she sees Abigail and the other girls calling out random names as coconspirators with the devil Betty joins in to get out of the situation completely absolving her from punishment. The final example is Thomas Putnam. Mr. Putnam is a man heavily motivated by material items, in particular land. Giles Corey catches on to Putnam’s scheme and accuses him in the court of “killing his neighbors for their land.” Mr. Putnam has his daughter stand up and lie in front of the court, saying their neighbor George Jacobs sent out his spirit on her at night. This completely fabricated ploy was schemed up by Putnam to get Jacobs thrown in jail so that he could purchase the acres of now uninhabited land. From the examples provided it is evident that many characters in The Crucible behave in a manner that allows them to avoid punishment and obtain reward.
There are many characters in The Crucible that are conventional. Conventional characters behave in a way that shows they want group acceptance. They want to fit into a particular group. Mary Warren is the epitome of a conventional character. While in court Mary justified her actions by saying that “everyone cried spirits” referring to the other girls. More specifically, Mary Warren had been convinced by john Proctor to tell the truth about Abigail and the girls lying about people being witches. However, when challenged in court and asked to faint like she had before she could not as she said it was all part of an act she could only do while the other girls were doing it. This proves how Mary Warren behaved in an unusual way purely to fit in with the group. Another character that wants to be accepted by a group is Mrs. Putnam. She displays this desire when accusing Sarah Nurse of causing her babies to shrivel “in her hands.” Mrs. Putnam has had issues with child birth having multiple miscarriages and fetuses die upon birth. During this time period one of the attributes that give a woman their status is their ability to bare children. Mrs. Putnam being very concerned with what others think of her because she wants to fit in and be seen as normal, uses Sarah Nurse as a scapegoat to blame her for her birth difficulties. The third example is Elizabeth Proctor. While in court pleading for Elizabeth to be freed he brings up the fact that “she have never lied.” It is unusual for someone to never lie unless that is their claim to be accepted by society is just that. Elizabeth is known as the perfect Christian and if she were to lie that would ruin her reputation among others hence she will never lie even about John committing adultery, which is why he brings this up in the court. You can see from the examples provided that many characters in The Crucible show a real desire to be part of a group.
There are post-conventional characters in The Crucible. Post-conventional behaviour is when you have your own individual sense of values and ethics. Those values and ethics cannot be influenced by reward, punishment or group acceptance. The first character that elects to behave in a post-conventional manner is Giles Corey. With Giles’ last words instead of confessing or giving up his friend’s name he asks for “more weight” referring to the stones being placed on his chest as a torture and execution method. Giles was not doing this to impress anyone and be accepted by a group nor was he doing it for a pre-conventional reason obviously. Alternatively, he told them to execute him because of his own beliefs that what he was doing was the right and just thing. Secondly, Reverend Hale behaves in a way that he believes is right regardless of reward, punishment, or group acceptance. When Hale catches wind of the unjust proceedings of the court he decides to “quit this court” as he cannot support what is happening. Hale enjoys the power and status that comes with being a member of the court, but due to what he believes is right he will not stick around and support it. His actions will not gain him any form of group acceptance and as previously mentioned he does not gain any form of reward by doing this. The final example is John Proctor. After Proctor’s confession Judge Danforth wants him to sign it to make it official but Proctor refuses exclaiming for them to “leave [him his] name!” John confessed to lechery and knew that he was doomed to death but, as his dying wish he wanted to keep the dignity that was not officially giving up his name on the document. One might think this is strange but Proctor was doing this to be at peace with himself, not for Elizabeth, not for anyone else, just purely so that he could die feeling all is right by his standards. The examples shown above, illustrate how there are multiple complex characters in The Crucible that behave in the way they think is correct no matter the reward, punishment, or group acceptance they may or may not recieve.
In conclusion, it is evident that Kohlberg’s moral precepts have been a valuable tool in allowing the reader to achieve a better understanding for characters in The Crucible. It has also demonstrated why individuals behave the way they do when faced with certain situations. Depending on the individual they may decide to approach a situation in one of the three ways mentioned above; pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. To reiterate, a pre-conventional individual is one whom acts in a manner to either obtain a reward, avoid punishment or both. In comparison, a conventional being is one that behaves in such a way to fit into and attempt to belong to a particular group. The last of the three precepts is post-conventional, some argue this is the hardest to come by as these people are not attempting to obtain a reward, avoid punishment, or fit into a group. Instead they have their own values and beliefs that they stick by regardless of the outcome. As you can see by the examples and the detailed descriptions given above there is an amplitude of characters that approach the situations they are faced with using each or a combination of Kohlberg’s three moral precepts.