John Proctor's Mendacity In The Crucible

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Recommended: Summary of the Crucible by Arthur Miller

In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was John Proctor’s flaws- lust, Mendacity, and Idealism- that led him to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch- hunt in Salem. Salem was a Puritan village that frowned upon anything that was evil and they also believed in the witches. Anyone who was caught practicing any type of witchcraft was severely punished. The Crucible started when Abigail and a few other girls were caught dancing naked in the woods with animal blood. When they were caught, they were accused of practicing witchcraft. The girls began to blame other people of their crime so they would not be punished. There were many people who could have been accused of starting this witch-hunt, but a prime …show more content…

John shows his mendacity throughout the whole story by lying to the whole village about his affair with Abigail. He showed more Mendacity when he lied to the Judge about not seeing anyone with the devil. John lies about many things in this story and he shows one example of his mendacity when he says, “ Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang!” John is admitting to all the lies that he has told throughout the whole witch-hunt. He is upset about the lies he has told so he begins to degrade himself. When Proctor was in court, he was asked multiple times by Danforth if he saw anyone with the Devil and John denied it every the accusations every time. Danforth asks “ Did you ever see Martha Corey with the Devil?” Proctor replies, “ I did not.” Danforth begins to get annoyed by Proctor’s lies so he says, “ Proctor, you mistake me. I am not empowered to trade your life for a lie. You have most certainly seen some person with the Devil. Mr. Proctor, a score of people have already testified they saw this woman with the Devil.” Even though John Proctor knew the truth, he continued to lie to Danforth about seeing the Devil with Martha Corey. John proves to himself and the whole village that telling many lies cannot only affect the people around you but it can affect you as well. John’s inability to tell the truth has affected his relationship with his wife

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