Truth

sorry miss we haven't got the last part cos it was supposed to be sent to me but i never got it



Truth

conformity to fact or actuality
a statement prove to be, or accepted as true
sincerity, integrity

At the beginning of “The Crucible”, lies and suspicion are rife, and no one trusts anyone else. By the end, the truth is out. Truth is the driving force behind the witch hunt, though the truth was not always what the court wanted to hear, nor was it always what they received. Character such as Abigail Williams deliberately fed the court lies, distorting their perceptions, and exerting influence over them so that they did not recognise the truth when they heard it. On the other hand, John Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth, find truth of their own, and rediscover there love for each other. Reverend Hale also discovers truth during the course of the play, and is the first character outside of the conspiracy to realise what is going on behind the veil of justice.
Each character reflects the theme of truth in a different way as some are honest and true puritan citizens whereas others exploit the truth for their own benefit.
Abigail Williams
We begin to see Abigail’s manipulation of the truth in the first act. From the beginning she fiercely denies having any involvement in witchcraft even after her uncle has seen her in the woods, which is forbidden. Throughout this act we get to see how Abigail exploits certain situations to save herself and is willing to lie in front of all authority figures, including god, if she gains her one true desire, John Proctor. She triggers the witch hunt when she realises she will be condemned for witchcraft and therefore says that Tituba was the one who conjured spirits. In fear Tituba declares she saw Sarah Good with the devil. Abigail realise that this declaration is being taken seriously so she begins to name villagers aswell to save herself. This shows the self-obsessed side to her personality as she is willing to lie and condemn others to die to save herself. One of the most important parts to this theme is when Abigail runs away as she realises the villagers no longer believe her lies and it is she who will condemned to misery by the villagers for all the lives she has ruined.
John Proctor
John Proctor is the most important character in the play as he is determined to do what is right for his friends and tell the truth even if he sacrifices his own name. He is one of the few people in the play who have not become susceptible to the mass hysteria and sticks to his own premonitions. In the first act we can see that while he is alone with Abigail in Reverend Parris’ house she admits the truth and tells him there was no witchcraft involved. This and the fact that Mary had said there was no witchcraft confirms his belief that the thought of the devil in Salem is outrageous. This presses on his conscience in the days between act 2 and 3 while innocent villagers are being condemned to death and at the beginning of act 3 we see he can no longer hide the truth and confesses what he knows. When the court dismisses his claim he is determined to do everything in his power to get justice for all those innocent people either forced to confess or condemned to death for a crime they did not commit. He is so determined he even blackens his own name by admitting he committed adultery with Abigail to prove that she may have an ulterior motive. However, the trials are not the main way he portrays the theme of truth; it’s his guilt about his affair with Abby. In his scene with Abigail we do not know who he is lying to, himself, Abigail or Elizabeth. This is shown when he says “I have hardly stepped off this farm this seven month”. His honesty with his wife about the affair has lead to their relationship becoming under strain and the regret of the affair adds extra guilt as he realises what a mistake he has made. At the end of the play after john has decided to protest his innocence and stay true to his name we can see his conscience is finally clear and he dies without any regrets of his actions during the trials. This shows us that one of the only few people who are honest is throughout the play are truly “free” from the hysteria at the end of the play.
Reverend Hale
When reverend Hale is summoned at the beginning of the novel he is deemed to be the expert so the villagers take his word as the truth and do not question it. As it gets to the end of the play in the trials Hale sees the ridiculousness of the mass panic in the village and vows he will do everything in his power to protect those who are innocent and protest against the lying girls. His aim is to uphold the truth in the town as the only one who can see through the lies the girls have created.



Steven, Iona and Samantha