How To Raise Children In The Crucible

In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the character by the name of Reverend Hale says to Elizabeth Proctor that “no principle, however glorious” is worth dying for. This idea is unsound, however. Life may be a precious gift, but people with courage and strong morals would never consider telling such a huge lie in the hopes of living another day. Only someone spinless and with weak morals would lie to save their own skin.

If someone chooses to give up their integrity to save themselves, they cannot reasonably be expected to raise children with good character. In the play, John Proctor said, “I have three children- how may I teach them to walk like men in the world when I have sold my friends?” (Miller 143). He is saying that by giving himself up, and by doing so also giving up his friends who gave their lives to preserve their names, would make him unfit to raise his children to be good, honorable men. If he abandoned his own moral code but still tried to raise his children to abide by it, he would be a hypocrite.

By admitting to doing something horrific, a person would be blackening their name beyond repair, and no amount of backtracking can undo that.

When John Proctor refused to sign the confession in The Crucible he gave this explanation, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life!” (Miller 143). By admitting to a crime he did not commit his name would be soiled forever, but if he were to die valiantly for his cause he would be able to retain his reputation, and still be seen as good in the eyes of his friends, wife, and children. In order for someone to save themselves, they have to give up their very

name.
Life is sacred, and not something that should be thrown away carelessly, but values are what defines a person, and when someone goes against them they make themselves a hypocrite. In The Crucible, Reverend Hale says to Elizabeth Proctor, “Life, woman, life is God’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it.” (Miller 132). He believes that nothing can warrant the killing of a human being, and no principle is great enough to justify it. Therefore, he believes that it is okay for someone to lie to protect themself, even if that lie corrupts their reputation, brands them a hypocrite, and haunts them the rest of their natural life.
Reverend Hale believes that no principle is worth the taking of a human life. However, most morally strong people would argue that this is incorrect. Morals, principles, ideas, and beliefs are all important to people’s sense of identity, and when that is taken away there isn’t much left. It is important for people to be able to assert what they believe in, and to be able to stand up against what they think is morally wrong, and whether that involves giving up their lives should be left for them to decide.