The Crucible Essay.

In “The Crucible”, people were very religious. The people were very concerned with witchcraft and very serious about certain acts that the people forbid. There are many people who caused the witch trials in this story. Abby is responsible because of her insane acts to get what she wants. Parris is partially responsible because he is conceited. John is at fault for not confessing about the truth which Abby told him. John is also to blame due to his sin of adultery. The three people most responsible for the Salem witch trials were Abby, Parris, and John.

Abby is responsible because of selfish content. She was the one, along with Tituba, to make the very first accusations against people. Abby then realized that if she started to confess with Tituba, then all of the glory would shine on her. Abby probably then discovered that she can use the accusations to get what she wants. Due to this feeling, Abby is constantly looking for ways to get rid of Elizabeth. In the story, Abby confuses sex with love which made her believe that John loves her. Abby is obsessed with John and would do anything to be with him. The more Abby yearned for John, the more pretense Abby had the other girls’ play along to. Abby even attempted to kill Elizabeth three times but in the end, none of the tricks worked.

“The girl, the Williams girl, Abigail Williams sir. She sat to dinner in ReverendParris’s house tonight, and without word nor warnin’ she falls to the floor.Like a struck beast, he says, and screamed a scream that a bull would weep to hear. And he goes to save her, and stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out. And demandin’ of her how she come to be so stabbed, she testify it were your wife’s familiar spirit pushed it in” (Miller 74).

Abby is insane enough to go through pain in order to make Elizabeth look guilty in the witch trials. This stunt put Elizabeth in jail for witchery. Abby’s insane mind caused trouble, but Parris was also to blame.

Parris is one person responsible for the Salem witch trials. He is supposed to be a leader in the town and instead he is a coward. “Thomas, Thomas, I pray you, leap not to witchcraft. I know that you- you least of all, Thomas, would ever wish to disastrous a charge laid upon me. We cannot leap to witchcraft. They will howl me out of Salem for such corruption in my house” (Miller 14). In the town, Parris is not the most appreciated person. When people were crying “witch” in the town, he immediately called Reverend Hale. Parris was too weak to do anything about the situation. He also tries to convince John to confess because Parris wanted to prevent rebellion. All Parris ever cared about was his job and his power within the town. During the witch trials, Parris wanted everyone to confess to make the people think that Parris has been right. Parris refused to let anyone believe the truth about what people were saying. “Excellency, you surely cannot think to let so vile a lie be spread in open court” (Miller 89)! As the judges started to consider what the people were trying to say, Parris would try to change the judges’ minds. Parris knew that if the town knew that dealing with the devil was taking place in his house, then he would be kicked out of town. Parris’s greedy and selfish acts served the town nothing, but John was at fault as well.

John Proctor is responsible due to the lack of ability to tell the truth. Abby confessed to John that the dancing was just pretend and that seeing the devil was not true. However, John remains silent until a certain point. “I never knew until tonight that the world is gone dark with this nonsense” (Miller 68). John had no idea that Abby and the other girls’ would have taken these accusations as far as the girls’ had. John also did not know how naïve the people were being. If John would have told the truth earlier though, then the witch trials could have been proven false. By the time John had confessed to Hale, however, too much damage had been done for anything to be erased. The town had gone into further chaos causing many people to be accused and held in custody. Little did John know that keeping that secret was not only going to put Elizabeth in danger, but himself as well. John was to blame because of his questioning mind, but John was also at fault for his inability of self-control.

 John is also responsible because of temptation. Elizabeth was sick and had not hooked up with John in quite some time. John lost all of his self-control oneday and he hooked up with Abby. “Then how do you charge me with such a promise? The promise that a stallion gives a mare I gave that girl” (Miller 62)! Even though John hooked up with Abby, John did not mean any feelings about it. John had led Abby on which was not a smart thing to do. John did not hide any looks of having feelings very well which made Abby’s feelings deepen putting everyone else in danger. Since John had made Abby believe something that was not there, Abby tried to get them together by getting rid of Elizabeth. If John had not given into Abby, then the witch trials might not have even taken place.

Many people were killed and accused during these trials. It was a lose-lose situation for everyone being accused as a witch. To confess and still lose your land or not confess to dealing with the devil and be hung. Abby helped along with the accusations in her own selfish way. Parris was too much of a coward to be of any use. John made a huge mistake and did not tell a single soul of what Abby told him. John also was at fault for giving into lechery. The people who were most at fault for the witch trials were Abby, Parris, and John.