Sacrifice In The Crucible

It has often been stated that one of the most precious gifts in the world is life itself. A vast majority of the people on this planet go above and beyond to protect this universally cherished gift. People are taught from a young age the lofty value and glorious nature that life has to this world. Almost all the legendary authors, artist, and playwrights have touched upon the importance that a life has in this world. However, after an analysis of the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller the validity of Reverend Hale’s statement “Life is God’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it.” has come into question. Though nobody wants their life taken from them unwillingly when it is not one's own life on the

line does a life still hold the same value as before? When most people preach and praise the concept of life are they speaking for all life or merely their own? Most people would respond without doubt that a life does in fact hold the same value as before but, as evidenced by The Crucible this statement does not always bare true. Through the use of his play The Crucible Arthur Miller has proven that while life has been given the label of precious people do not always treat it as such.
The first instance of lives being disregarded in terms of worth is during the ending scene of the first act. Towards the end of the act people are convinced of witchcraft in Salem and are forcing Tituba - a slave of one of the main antagonists- to confess to witchcraft or die. If people truly did value lives and consider them precious then they would not propose such an extreme punishment for a crime that is virtually impossible to solicit proper evidence for. Often when people must get rid of something they find valuable, they do everything they can to make sure that they have done everything in their power to secure it. These people did not even think twice before threatening the livelihood of the person accused. In Fact, after analyzing the text again it could be inferred that the people of Salem could care less about whose life was at stake during this moment. If their claim that life is sacred was true in their hearts then they would not have threaten to take it away from people over potentially false accusations. These highly religious people are being hypocritical because they contradict themselves on nearly all there main beliefs regarding this topic. They look down upon people who commit sins yet they willingly sin in order to save their own lives. The only thing that most of the people in the town seemed to care about during that moment was self preservation. Who’s name could they slander or what piece of dignity could they sacrifice in order to live through the nightmare. One of the most horrid facts about The Crucible is the fact that it could have been avoided from escalating had people not jumped to conclusions and been so selfish as to end the lives of others in hopes that they will get through the situation alive.
Another instance in which people contradicted the principle of life being “God's greatest gift” is when Judge Danforth stated “I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt this resolution”.

Of all people to oppose what is supposed to be the most important of gods principles few would suspect the one who interprets the lords laws. The people of Salem had complete faith in Judge Danforth's messages and verdicts on cases because he is supposedly the interpreter of who is innocent in god's eyes. Judge Danforth was also supposed to be a man whom was just and judged all persons fairly in god's honor however, as the play develops it becomes more prevalent that judge Danforth could care less about the residents of Salem. This conclusion was evidenced by the entirety of act three in which good, well standing, members of Salem’s society attempted to present honest evidence to put an end to the senseless witch hunt but, ended up being arrested and sentenced to death instead because of Judge Danforth’s insecurities. Had Judge Danforth truly cared about the fate of those in Salem he would have set aside his fear of ruining his immaculate reputation in order to ensure that these people were being sentenced fairly. The person who was expected to uphold the honor of the lord through just and fair trials completely disregarded all of those things simply so he could continue to deny the fact that he had been duped by a group of clever little girls. Through his actions Judge Danforth proved that his reputation as a perfect Judge was worth the lives of over 12 innocent people whom likely had families and loved ones who they needed to care for. It takes a true monster to be able and accept the fact that the people he senselessly killed had people who needed and depended on them to

survive.
Though the scene in which John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and Martha Corey sacrificed their lives to save those who would not confess to being witches would constitute to support of the idea that life is venerated as grandiose it could also be interpreted as evidence against this ideal as well. Giving up one's life for the sake of multiple others is beyond courageous and honorable but, why should a person be required to sacrifice one of god's most valued gifts if nothing can justify the taking of it. Within the wording of the statement “Life is God’s most precious gift; no principle; however glorious can justify the taking of it” it is explicitly stated that nothing even of the most honorable degree warrants the loss of a life. Which would mean while it is a noble thing to give one's life for another or multiple others the taking of the life is still not acceptable. Though as most people understand that would be a false statement because how many people would be content with killing off hundreds of people when you could kill off three and have it end there. Further analysis of both the story and the quote have also lead to the realization that if Reverend Hale's statement about gods belief in life is true then why is the death penalty even an option. The fact that they use the death penalty to punish people is already sufficient evidence that these people truly do not believe in what Reverend Hale stated to Elizabeth Proctor. The people of salem were known for how devoted they were to religion so if the that statement was and actual belief of those people then it would have been strictly enforce but, as have been made clear by the deaths of the 15 accused witches, to the townspeople threatening Reverend Parris’s life, to the horrific and graphic death of Giles Corey, the people simply do not have faith in the idea that god's most precious gift was life.
Although people do not opine the idea that god's ultimate gift to people was their life there is still respect for life in this world. The Crucible merely brings light to the fact that people will often disregard the life of others for the sake of their own life’s benefit. If a person can find a way to sacrifice the livelihood of another in order to maintain what they have or to get what they want then they will. This is an unfortunate yet explicitly clear reality of the people in this world. This is not to say that life holds no value to people it is more so that unless a life can help realize something a person is looking for than they are not that important. Even when people are protecting the lives of others they typically do so because the person protecting the life is getting something out of protecting that life. It is righteous of these people to hold life to a high value but, it also goes to show that unless people can get something out of it nobody truly cares. Take anything and analyze the people who care and the people whom do not. Generally the people who care primarily care because it provides those people with something whether it be and emotion or feeling, something materialistic, or something they can't quite put into words there is always a motivation behind there cause. When it comes to the people that do not care it is simply the matter of whatever it may be inconveniencing, dissatisfying, or not constituting towards the things they do value. If a statement such as the one reverend Hale made is boiled down to a couple of basic points it is really between whether or not the ideal benefits a person in any way or the ideal inconveniences a person in any way. These two reasons are why the events of The Crucible played out as they did John Proctor and the other two women sentenced to death believed life was valuable because it would benefit them and others for the hangings to stop while letting them die with their dignity which was of a high value to them where as Judge Danforth was inconvenienced by this principle as it would mean his reputation would be tarnished and that was of a higher value to him than Reverend Hale's principal. Life is a series of choices which ironically is what ultimately determines if it is kept or taken.