Crucibleessay Scotttarbox

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Scott Tarbox
Ms. Winter
English 3, Period 7
9 November 2015
What were the effects of the Seven Deadly Sins?
Which of the Seven Deadly Sins do you think are unavoidable? Why or why not? The
Crucible by Arthur Miller, published in 1953, is a play about the 1692 Salem Witch Trials and
what had occurred during this time. The people in the town of Salem were puritans who believed
2in the religion of Christianity and in this religion is the belief in the Seven Deadly Sins and how
they are the best way to enrage god. The Crucible has many different forms of the Seven Deadly
Sins in this play but the three major ones that are going to be explained shortly are envy, pride,
and wrath and how they affected the town during these trials.
First off one of the sins that occurred in the crucible is envy or in other words jealousy.
There is a large amount of envy in Abigail regarding the Proctors especially John Proctor. Oh, I
marvel how such a strong man let such a sickly wife be(Miller 23). Abigail is extremely jealous
of Elizabeth because she had John and Abigail does not. This quote shows Abigail hitting on
John and saying that John is married to a sickly women and should be married to Abigail.
Another person who is very jealous is Mr.Putnam. Mr.Putnam is accused of claiming that his
neighbors were practicing witchcraft so he can buy their land when they got imprisoned or hung.
My proof is there! If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property-thats law! And there is
none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a piece. This man is killing his neighbors for their
land!(Miller 96). Mr.Putnam is jealous of their land so he tried as hard as he could to get his
neighbors accused of witchcraft so he could buy their land because back then land is worth more
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than money and he is the only one in the town that could afford that kind of price. Envy is just
one of the three major problems that occurred in the Crucible, some of which are worse and more
problematic than others.
Pride is another sin that proved problematic for Rev. Hale and John Proctor. Rev Hale
was very proud in his witch sensing abilities, Mr. Hale is nearing forty, a tight-skinned, eager-
eyed intellectual. This is a beloved errand for him; on being called here to ascertain witchcraft he
felt the pride of the specialist whose unique knowledge has last been publicly called for. (Miller
32-33). This quickly backfires on him because he realises at the end of act 3 and in act 4 that he
has been accusing people without much proof and tries as hard as he can to fix his mistakes but
cannot because the witch trials have been taken too far to change. John Proctors pride proved
very problematic for him because he had so much pride in his name that he would have rather
died than giving it up, Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life!
Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that
hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!(Miller
143). Proctor had already given Danforth everything and does not want to give up his name
because he thinks it will get blackened and people will remember him for signing his confession
to witchcraft and not any of the good things he may have done or may do if he lives. As you can
see pride is unavoidable especially in The Crucible but there is still one more that is much worse
and is much more problematic for the puritans.
The third Deadly Sin that will be discussed is wrath. This sin is the most destructive and
problem causing in The Crucible for many people, it especially affected Abigail. Abigail is a
prime example of wrath or sometimes called anger in this book. She used the accusation of her
being a witch to her benefit and used this accusation to get other people that may have angered
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her or that she just does not like to get them imprisoned or hung, sometimes both, I saw goody
Hawkins with the devil! (Miller 48). When Abigail is first accused of witchcraft in Act one she
started to go on a rant listing the names she supposedly saw with the devil even though she is
not a witch and she did not actually see any of these people she is naming with the devil. She is
one of the main antagonists in The Crucible as well as one of the main reasons it kept going as
long as it did. Another example of wrath was Giles Corey in Act Three, Ill cut your throat,
Putnam, Ill kill you yet.(Miller 98). Giles started to get very angry when the court would not
accept his evidence on Mr.Putnam and how he is using witchcraft accusations to get his
neighbor's land from them after they were imprisoned or hung. Giles threatened to kill
Mr.Putnam just because the court did not believe his accusations. As you can see wrath is a very
dangerous emotion, as well as a sin to commit, because of the harmful effects it has on people.
Emotions can cause people to do things they normally would not do just because they are maybe
angry or sad and they might not realize that they are doing these things or how they may be
affecting the people around them.
As previously stated these three of the Seven Deadly Sins: wrath, envy, and pride can be
very dangerous and harmful to not just the people committing these sins but the people around
them as well but sometimes they are not so bad. Pride for example could be a good thing
especially if you are proud of say a big accomplishment in life or proud of something someone
else like one of your children has accomplished. As you can see there are times where a sin is a
bad thing but then again there are times when they can be good things as well.

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What were the effects of the Seven Deadly Sins?

problematic than others.

and is much more problematic for the puritans.

affecting the people around them.

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