Throughout history, there have been many mass hysterias, one of which was the Salem witch trials of 1693. Arthur Miller's The Crucible is set during this period of angst and begins when Abigail and a couple of other girls accuse other townspeople of witchcraft. For the Puritans, this comes as a shock and causes chaos to spread throughout the city, breaking down the social order. Everyone turns on each other, lies to each other, and people are left to their own devices. In the play, Arthur Miller illustrates the lengths to which many characters will go to risk their reputations and restore social order through the sacrifices the characters make in the play. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Throughout the show, Proctor often makes sacrifices to his reputation in an attempt to stop the escalating madness. He takes Mary Warren and goes to court with a petition and depositions, but is unable to change the judges' minds. As a result, he decides to confess to having committed adultery with Abigail. Proctor claims that Abigail "'thinks of dancing with [him] on [his] wife's grave!...[he] longed for, and there's a promise in such sweat...it's a whore's revenge, and [ they] have to watch it.'” He puts his name and reputation on the line to try to convince the judges that Abigail is evil and a fraud. He does this because he comes to terms with the fact that he can't hide his secret forever never wants to forgive himself. This is a shock because Proctor is well respected and well known in the city. The horrible struggles that many are going through are conveyed by the fact that Proctor is willing to risk his name for the sake of others is also illustrated by the countless number of innocent people who die due to the girls' false claims. Since everyone in the town praises the girls, as they believe they are helping to cleanse the town of witches, the girls' false claims make the attempts. of the Proctors to restore social order much more difficult. He feels the need to sacrifice his name because of how easily everyone turns on each other due to the quick accusations being made. Many people naturally believe girls because of their extreme puritanical culture: everything unknown is caused by an evil spirit. This allows witchcraft to spread even faster because blaming the devil is the simplest explanation for everything that happens. Furthermore, Proctor gives up his life for his name and his morals, and refuses to live if it meant his name would be deceptive. Proctor believes he is not worth “'dust on the feet of those who hang!'” and says, “'How can I live without my name? I gave you my soul; leave me my name!'”. He feels that his name, integrity and pride are already ruined because of his relationship with Abigail, so he believes that sacrificing himself will allow him to forgive himself of his sins and at the same time hopefully save the rest of the accused by hanging. . He does not wish to live knowing that he has committed a sin against Puritan beliefs and knowing that he has cheated on his wife. Proctor refuses to become like all the other people who lied to save their lives. The fact that he is unwilling to "confess" his witchcraft shows that, although he has made mistakes before, he is a very noble man with a good conscience and will admit his wrongdoings. His sacrifice allows him to find peace within himself, something he hasn't had for a long time. His sacrifice is fundamental torestore social order because it demonstrates the importance of dying with honor and righteousness, rather than living with a lie. Prove to the rest of the town that if people continue to lie to save their own lives and the lives of all the innocent people of Salem, the trial will never end and, therefore, even more deaths will occur. Proctor's death brought about the end of the witch trials and, not long after, social order was restored. In addition to John Proctor, his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, also makes risky sacrifices to her reputation to end Salem's hysteria. When Elizabeth Proctor is brought out to testify whether John Proctor committed acts of lust, she tries to protect her husband and refers to her husband as a "'godly man,'" but when Danforth finally asks, "'Your husband is a libertine!'" , hesitates and says: “'No, sir'”. By blatantly lying about her husband's actions, she prioritizes her husband's reputation over her puritanical beliefs of goodness and risks getting into trouble. Like Proctor, he is selfless and risks his reputation to save others. Elizabeth Proctor wants to allow Proctor to maintain his good image in town and is convinced that lying about his lust will help him do so. Both Proctor and Elizabeth choose to sacrifice their reputations and do everything they can to help the rest of the town, which is why they have a huge impact on restoring social order in Salem. Towards the end of the play, once Proctor chooses not to confess to his alleged witchcraft, Reverend Hale asks Elizabeth to get Proctor to confess, but she chooses not to. Elizabeth behaves this way out of love because she knows that John will never forgive himself if he confesses. He understands that if he is hanged, “'Now he will have his goodness. God forbid I should take it from him!'” Elizabeth tells Proctor, “'I want you to live, John. That's for sure,'” but she sacrifices her love and happiness to allow him to do what he thinks is right, earn her “goodness,” and so that it benefits the rest of the city. Since the people of Salem know that John Proctor is a noble man and would not sacrifice his life for no reason, Elizabeth's sacrifice further restores the social order because, while she allows Proctor to be hanged, that message is sent to the judges and the the entire city. , exposing that the entire situation was a fraud. During Proctor's hanging, he is joined by another highly respected member of the town, Rebecca Nurse. As the two most honorable people continue to be hanged, this leads to the end of the Salem witch trials. To help further restore social order, another crucial character, Reverend Hale, plays a significant role in ending the Salem witch trials by defending himself. his beliefs and sacrificing his important status in the city. While everyone is in the courtroom during the show, Hale realizes that it is all a lie, so he argues: “'Your Excellency, it is natural to lie; Please stop now before another one is convicted! I can no longer close my conscience to this: through this testimony he carries out a private revenge!'”. Hale attempts to inform the judges that the girls are scammers and reveals that the girls are using the testimony to get revenge on the people in town, such as Abigail trying to get revenge on Elizabeth. Hale sacrifices his high reputation in town to defend Proctor and the wrongly accused. He fights for what he believes in and ignores the possibility that people now see him as less. Towards the end of the play, Hale begins to make an effort to get the accused to confess to witchcraft, so that they can live, which is extremely ironic since Hale is a member of the.