In General Pride Is At The Bottom Of All Great Mistakes In The Crucible

The quote by John Ruskin, “In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes." In my opinion is arguable but also very true depending on the motives behind it all and what you add to the mix. Pride with some honor, morality, and self-preservation can help you turn away from certain mistakes, and help you avoid regret. Examples of this can be seen in The Crucible from the character Abigail when she is rejected by John leading to a number of bad event including her running away from the town of Salem. Another example can be seen when John decides not to sign his name on the confession that is offered by the church. By doing so he is staying strong in character proving that If you know that what you’re doing is right, you’re not going to look back and regret it no matter the cost or the outcome.

Abigail shows us how we can make mistakes because of pride as is when she is hurt because of John's rejection, which causes her to accuse his wife plus other random people in Salem of witchcraft. After the higher authority of Salem notices this, the town sees her as the savior of the town who has come to cleanse them of witchcraft. Therefore, they put her on a pedestal, which inflates her ego. The negative

effects from this situation is that her pride doesn’t allow her to confess to what she did to the people of Salem. She has ruined the sense of friendliness, community, and trust between neighbors and later runs away.

John shows how pride could encourage the preservation of your character and personality with his pride and that he has morals and honor for himself to do the right thing.

John’s conscience causes him to confess to adultery, which allows him to preserve his sense of self-esteem because he tries to prove that Abigail was just causing a scene because she was angry with him and his wife Elizabeth but also tries to save some of the people of Salem from false accusations More importantly, he keeps his morals letting the people he love have respect for him. His own honesty comes into play when he does not sign the false confession of witchcraft knowing that if he did, it would lower his self-esteem and his recognition from the town as well as destroy the lives of his

family.

Now that you can see that pride specifically is not the root of all mistakes you can understand that everyone you meet is not arrogant or conceited because of their pride. Pride can come in many other good forms like confidence and self-assurance. As shown in Abigail’s character she obviously had more of the self-centered type of pride based off of the decisions she made and what type of name she left for herself. John on the other had more of the honorable type of pride when you see that the decisions he make were more for the benefit of others and and he leaves with his good name.