Abigail Lies in The Crucible Essay Sample

Many people grow up with certain expectations to live by. For example, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ is a common question asked as a child. The expectation is to go to school and get a job. However, do childhood expectations fully shape who people become, or can people be shaped in another way? In the book, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the townspeople in Salem are expected to worship God to the highest degree. One character, Abigail Williams, goes against the puritan faith to avoid hardships. Her spiteful personality helps her out of unwanted situations. Throughout the novel, Abigail Williams continuously lies to keep herself out of trouble. Abigail Williams’s greatest crucible is trying to maintain her power in the court to protect herself from torment. Her manipulative and deceiving actions in court help her overcome this hardship.

Abigail Williams is a misunderstood individual in Salem due to her manipulative actions. In court, she convinces people that she is not at fault, even to the highest official, Thomas Danforth. After he questions Abigail about the spirits she claims to see, she responds with, “I have been near murdered every day because I have done my duty pointing out the devils people - and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, and questioned like a…” (Miller 100). In these lines, Abigail presents herself as the victim. She bombards Danforth for bringing it up, so she can keep a good reputation for herself. She convinces him that she has spent all this time finding people associated with the devil only to mislead him into thinking she is a better person than she is. She gets defensive that he doubts her which shows the manipulative side of her. 

Abigail Williams continues to shift the focus away from herself in the courtroom by being deceitful to the other characters in the story. She goes on to accuse others of witchcraft, like Mary Warren. Abigail pretends as though a spirit has come across her when she says, “A wind, a cold wind has come.” (Miller 111). Abigail deceives the court by blaming Mary. She acts as if she is currently being bewitched to make her lies more believable and to distract from being suspected. The other girls in court go along with Abigail as they don’t want to be accused of “witchery”, like Mary. Her deceit shows that she has enough power to make others go along with her dishonesty even if it is a “sin” in the puritan culture. 

In order for Abigail to overcome her hardships, she had to maintain her power in court by using manipulative and deceiving actions, conquering her greatest crucible. She first played the victim to Judge Danforth. This kept her from being accused of witchcraft. Also, by pointing fingers and putting the blame on others helped keep Abigail out of punishment in court. Even though this was against the puritan faith, it benefited her in many ways.