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The final theme in The Crucible is courage. As aforementioned, John Proctor is a very courageous character, and his courage only grows as the plot goes on. Proctor shows his courage many times, the most notable being when he chooses to hang for the sake of honesty rather than live a lie for the rest of his life. When he is condemned to hang with Goody Nurse, Proctor says to Elizabeth, “... Give them no tear. Show them a heart of stone and sink them with it,” (Miller 86). Rebecca Nurse responds to this with “Let you fear nothing. There is another judgement that waits us all,” (Miller 86). Arthur Miller uses this dialogue to convey Proctor and Nurse’s courage and their ability to pass that courage onto others. They are about to hang, but they both stay strong all the way until the very end, because they know that they are dying for a good cause. The development of these two characters also shows how courageous they become by the end of the play. In the beginning, Goody Nurse is known as a sweet, religious woman who is very well known at the church, and she helps with the birth of children. When talking about his wife’s arrest, Francis Nurse says, “My wife is the very brick and mortar of the church, Mister Hale…” (Miller 39). However, by the end of the play, Rebecca becomes much more courageous. After Danforth pressures her to confess to witchcraft, she says, “Why, it is a lie, it is a lie; how may I damn myself? I cannot, I cannot,” (Miller 84). The author uses this dialogue and character development to show how courageous Rebecca Nurse has grown to be. Even when her life is on the line, she refuses to give in to the court’s lies. Nurse is one of the few characters to come out and say that it is all a lie, which just goes to show how courageous she is.

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In the end, whether you engage in witchcraft, confess to knowing about witchcraft, or engage with any of the witches, the punishment is hanging. Danforth states, “Them that will not confess will hang” (Miller 119). Coming forth with honesty about ones relations with witchcraft or interactions with witches is still punishable by death. While John Proctor knew about the situation dealing with witchcraft, he still confessed of what he had done with Abigail WIlliams even though he knew about the witchcraft.  He didn’t want to betray the others who were accused. Danforth also states, “I should hang ten thousand that dare to rise against the law” (Miller 119-120). He was willing to hang anyone that he thought was against him and his judgement. Ultimately in the end, witchcraft at any aspect is against the laws in Salem and will be sentenced to death.

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Many of the acts of courage in “The Crucible” directly relate to the power of truth. As the story goes on, some characters would rather tell the truth than condemn themselves to a lie. ”Let you fear nothing! Another judgement awaits us all.” (Miller 133) This quote from Rebecca Nurse creates the allusion that heaven awaits those who are to be hanged, but the court’s judges and the girls’ fates are to be determined by God. This allusion creates a dark tone in the words spoken by Rebecca Nurse. Rebecca Nurse values the truth over any lie, But not all of the importance of truth is displayed by those who are truthful themselves. Abigail Williams lied throughout the entire story to save herself, no matter the cost. In Act II, scene 2, John Proctor asks Abigail If she plans to continue crying out the names of others. Abigail claims “If I live, I am not murdered, I surely will, until the last hypocrite is dead.” (Miller 141) Abigail is saying that she will do whatever it takes to keep herself alive and kill anyone who gets in between herself and Proctor. Abigail’s tone throughout all of Act II, scene 2, shows that she is truly a malicious person and will do anything to satisfy her lust for John Proctor.

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Miller successfully uses plot and tone to show how truth is a major theme of this play. Johns wife has been accused and he tries to save her by saying:

“In the proper place—where my beasts are bedded. Eight months now, sir, it is eight months. She used to serve me in my house, sir. A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything. I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you—see her for what she is. My wife, my dear good wife took this girl soon after, sir, and put her out on the high road. And being what she is, a lump of vanity, sir…. (Starts to weep.) Excellency, forgive me, forgive me. She thinks to dance with me on my wife‘s grave! And well she might!—for I thought of her softly, God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat! But it is a whore‘s vengeance, and you must see it; I set myself entirely in your hands, I know you must see it now. My wife is innocent, except she know a whore when she see one.” (Miller 102)

In this quote john is sacrificing his reputation and everything else with in with the hope of saving his wife. Miller uses the plot in order to show how the truth will always come out. Danforth wants a confession from John and he gives tells him, “I have three children- how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends.”(Miller 132) John is saying in this quote how can I live with myself let alone teach my kids to have a backbone and be men knowing that I lied and let my friends die for being truthful. This connects back to the theme of truth because the tone of the situation lets us know of the immense internal conflict within John right now due to this recurring theme of truth. Miller uses plot and tone to show how John was at conflict with himself trying to be truthful even when it would cause the worst outcome.

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Courage is the ability to face one's weakness or fears. Proctor faces his sins by talking to his wife about the affair. She is weary about his whereabouts, and whether or not to trust him, because of this, Proctor said, “You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity woman” (Miller 52). John was continuously tested by Elizabeth’s temper and accusations, his amount of courage faltered during these arguments. Even though he was in the wrong, he fought just as hard to keep her by his side. Still, Elizabeth was on edge about the situation and out of rage said, “John, you are not open with me” (Miller 52). This is her way of saying that John does not share everything with her, regardless of the fact that marriage requires total trust. With his newfound courage, John acquired the strength to move on from Abigail and focus on the values of family.

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The third and final theme shown throughout this book within John Proctor is truth. In John Proctor’s case, truth shows up in a few different places. One example of the truth in the book is towards the end where John has to make the decision to spare his life and confess to a lie, or sacrifice himself to stop the witch trials with the truth. You can see this struggle in the line, “Because it is my name!... leave my name!” (Miller 133) With the use of characterization, we learn that John is in conflict with his own good name, and in part because of this he decides to tear the confession to maintain his good name. Another time the theme of truth appears throughout the book is when in court John Proctor confesses to lechery with Abigail in the line, “In the proper place---where my beasts are bedded… I know you must see it now.” (Miller 102). After the tone becomes tense and uneasy, Proctor then goes out to confess to help their side’s case and this tone definitely would’ve helped push this on.

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Although Abigail William’s does not support the other two themes of weakness and truth, she, in some ways, does support the theme of courage. Throughout the novel, Abigail has courage, but in a “negative” way. All the girls, like Mercy Lewis and Mary Warren, follow Abigail, but not out of their will. Instead, they follow her because she is controlling and makes them do what she wants them to do. This may give Abigail the “courage” throughout the story. In life, people gain courage in many ways, but a very straightforward way is by being a leader. Abigail acts as a leader in The Crucible, but not in the best ways. When Betty Parris is knocked out in the beginning of the story, it is because Abigail convicts her of witchcraft and smacks her across her face for telling the truth about Abigail:

“Betty: You drank blood, Abby! You didn’t tell him that!

Abigail: Betty, you never say that again! You will never--

Betty: You did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!

Abigail, smashes her across the face: Shut it! Now shut it!

Betty, collapsing on the bed: Mama, Mama! She dissolves into sobs.

Abigail: Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down! She goes to Betty and roughly sits her up. Now, you - sit up and stop this” (Miller 19-20).

This quote divulges Abigail Williams as a manipulative, selfish leader. Although she shows it in a despondent way, Abigail does show characteristics of a manipulative leader, revealing some “negative” courage. The original definition of courage is “the ability to do something that frightens one.” Abigail lies and blames the rest of the girls for engaging in witchcraft. If this scenario was true, and the girls actually were convicted for witchery, Abigail would show a large amount of “positive” courage. Having courage could be sticking up for something or someone, speaking the truth, or even facing your fears. In this case, Abigail would be speaking the truth. This would only be true if she didn’t blame the other girls. Overall, Abigail Williams shows some traits of courage, but instead, shows more of a courageous leader with a negative reputation to others.

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Finally, Arthur Miller uses truth as a theme. One example of theme happens in act three in the courtroom.  “ And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me ,I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat.(Miller 374)” This quote from John Proctor is his confession to having an affair with Abigail. Proctor’s confession proves the significance of truth in the play. He tells the truth to the court which allows his wife’s life to be spared and preserved his own integrity. Proctor also tells the truth again just after admitting to lechery. “God does not need my name nailed upon the church!(Miller 281)” In this quote, John Proctor is talking about how he does not need his name nailed on the church door for everyone to see. He uses truth by not allowing his future children to see his name on the church door and believe the lie that he is a witch.

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Another theme represented in the turmutoulus scenes of the play is the undying truth. This a hard debated topic and is overshadowed in the plot line. Mostly it is overshadowed by the weakness and corruption that is in the town and in the courts. “Peace Giles peace...we’ll prove ourselves. Now we will.” (Miller, 91). This quote was said by John Proctor to Giles when he was in a rage. The courts were not listening to the two men and were in turn demanding for the proof they had already been given, ignoring it completely. The courts ignoring the truth placed before them emphasizes the way it, as a moral, is completely overshadowed by the people’s ignorance and unwillingness to listen. This quote used by Arthur Miller is a another good example of how truth should always be told, “....Is that document a lie? If it is a lie I will not accept it!...” (133). Danforth said this to John when he would not go through with lying so he could save his own skin, which proves the courts’ decisions on witchcraft to be wrong as well. Truth is greatly emphasized in book by the characters actions when it tries to come to light. This is a moral that is emphasized by the negative activity that goes on around it.

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Arthur Miller lastly shows theme of truth in the play The Crucible.  Truth and justice are the most important themes in the play. “She has an arrow in you yet, John Proctor, and you know it well!” (Miller 59). In this quote John is fighting against himself. We found out that Elizabeth Proctor knows about the affair that John had with Abigail. Elizabeth influences John to go to court and expose the truth. John struggles to do what he thinks is the right thing. This quote supports the theme of truth. This does so through a heroic and horrific way. John knows in order to end this madness he must go and confess to the court. However, for doing the right thing to confront the court it also backfires in a horrific way. John does confess to his affair with Abigail. This then destroys John’s reputation and suddenly catches the eye of the judges, who then accuse him of witchcraft. John has learned to accept his death rather than to confess to witchcraft. “Now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs.” (Miller 123). In this quote above John knows the truth, however, it doesn’t save his life. John strives and does this to defend his name in the town of Salem. This quote supports the theme of truth. This quote supports truth through the justice of John Proctor. Once again, John goes to confront the court to expose the false blaming of witchcraft. With the help of his wife, Elizabeth, John does what he thinks is right and goes to expose the truth. In spite of that, John opens up too much and brings up the affair he has with Abigail. Because of this, this drastically hurts John’s reputation. The judges then accuse John himself of witchcraft. Instead of denying the witchcraft, John learns to accept what he going to happen to him. John feared that his name would become bad in the town of Salem if he went to confront the court. John does not deny the judges with the bravery he has to save his name. John will forever know the truth. All in all, the theme of truth is an important part of The Crucible , which the town of Salem has lacked and causes it to destroy their community.

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One other theme that is shown in the play is weakness. Even though Abigail has a lot of courage, but she is also very weak. Although Arthur Miller didn’t directly tell us that Abigail was weak, we could tell because she never owned up to the lies that she has told. We can tell that she was weak in the sense of not wanting to own up to her faults, because towards the beginning of the play when somebody brought up what truly happened out in the woods she said:Shut it! Now shut it! Now look        you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam‘s dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this—let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it. I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!  Now you… sit up and stop this!(Miller 19)

This quote from Abigail is important because it shows is that she has the courage to stand up against the other girls but it also shows that she is weak in the way of not coming out and telling the people what really happened and who the real witches are. In a wrap, I believe Abigail is very weak while at the same time having courage and not being able to tell the truth.

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Truth. Truth has always been the relief and stress of man. You’re relieved to know the truth but you worry and get stressed out over the consequences an example of this is I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God Sees my name ; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!”

This shows his acceptance for all the sins he’s committed and the final ultimate trial he will accept and that trial is death but at this point his acceptance will send him off with a clear conscience and a clean soul.

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Another theme developed in the story is weakness we see many characters have this trait in the salem community. Throughout the story Mary Warren illustrates this theme due to her actions when the witch trials start. She fails to tell the court the real truth and shows her weakness by siding with the girls and blaming John Proctor for witching her. “ I will not hang with you !I love god. I love god. He came by every night and every day to sign the devils book.”(Miller 110) This quote is a prime example of Mary's weakness during the trails, she turns on John after she knows Abby and the girls are going to get her hung also. After all the evidence she presented the salem people thought they had a chance to end the trails but all hope is lost. Mary says to her “ Abby,Abby, I’ll never hurt you more! “( Miller 110)  Marry uses the literary device hyperbole in this statement to get her point across, although she has never really hurt Abigail she exaggerated this statement so she sounds more innocent to the court. John knows they have lost all their chances of ending the trails due to Mary's weakness in the end.

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Finally, we see our last theme, trust, throughout the whole story and especially at the ending of act four. This quote shows us the trust that Proctor has towards his wife. “I may think of you softly from time to time. But I’ll cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again.( Miller 90)"  This quote is showing us that Proctor has changed about his affair with Abigail and that he is committed to his wife. He is saying that he would harm himself before ever reaching out to Abigail again and cheat of his wife again. Similarly this quote is meaning the same thing but in a different way. “ Do that which is good, and no harm shall come to thee.” ( Miller 88) John is telling Mary this and it's saying that you should always do the good thing in life because something good will happen back to you. This shows that John believes in god and that you should always lookout for others instead of yourself. Throughout our story, trust was a very important role in our play. It is significant because it showed us who the real people were, who didn’t give into the pressure, and stuck to themselves even while being threatened to be hung.

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Furthermore, Arthur Miller uses character development through John Proctor to show us the repeated theme of courage in the story. John proctor stood up to the fake witches many a time. He also stood up to the corrupted court trying to get them to realise it was all fake. He risked his life to save others, as well as died at the gallows to save the lives of others. This is how John's character was part of the theme courage. “A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud-God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!” (Arthur Miller) (119-20). He went to the court just before this to help Mary warren testify that the trials have been fake the whole time,but once again Abigail found a way to manipulate everyone and believe her. John has had enough and called himself as well as everyone else the devil because they have all sinned. Mary warren turned on the one person who was trying to save people to save her own life. “I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another.  I have no tongue for it”(Arthur Miller)(131). John proctor telling Danforth he will not say the names of others as he has already lost the battle against Abigail and will not let her hurt anyone else. He will not damn himself by lying about witchcraft anymore. He rips up the confession right after this.

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The author has a strong, firm belief in truth and this can be inferred through diction. Elizabeth Putnam never told lies, at least that’s what everyone claimed. The type of words she used and the way she used them proves that she doesn’t tell lies. The line, “You have a faulty understanding of young girls. There is a promise made in any bed” proves that she is not afraid to tell the truth; for it will do her good in the future.

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By the end of the play John Proctor has to realize his own truth. When John signed the confession he was having difficulty in letting his name go. He realized that he had already blackened his name and his family’s when he committed adultery. John did not want to add witch craft to the bad deeds he had already done. John proctor said, “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 133). He finally confessed after they were asking him to sign the confession. In this quote the author uses diction to express the hardship Proctor is having on the confession. Another example of Proctor exemplifying the theme truth is when he says, “I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man. Nothing’s spoiled by giving them the lie that were not rotten long before”(Miller 126) .This quotes shows how he feels with the lies by using imagery. We can imagine the rotten lies. Proctor knows he has done wrong, so what will he lose when he tells the truth.

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In the end, Abigail, Mary, Elizabeth along with others are put on trial for being witches and practicing the devil’s ways.  John Proctor admits having an affair with Abigail, but Elizabeth tries to cover it up, not knowing that John had already confessed.  At one point John states “God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!” (Miller 111)  This statement again shows that in this region they are strict believers in the Bible and the only judge is God.  They also believe that the only answer is to burn them at the stake.

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Truth is also a big role in the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. This general trait developed by Miller shows in the character Rev. Hale, and this happens in a couple of occasions throughout the story. It happens when he first arrives in Salem. What I mean by this is he gets there and is right away looking for witchcraft, the reason he is sent for. Hale shows his eagerness for finding the truth by saying, “Here is all the invisible world, caught, defined, and calculated….I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face.” (Miller 37) This quotation right away like this is really great to describe the way that Hale is developed. This shows that he is really eager because he is so serious about driving out the devil, ultimately this brings peace and truth in the world. So, just trying to do God’s work Hale shows truth. There is also words to be said about the quote because in between the ellipsis Hale goes into depth about all the different types of demonic beings that are normally in the Devil’s company. This shows expertise in the subject showing that Hale is even more qualified to be doing what he is doing. You can also look at this phrase, “I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face.” The diction that Miller uses like, “crush him utterly” this shows more seriousness about how he is that saying that he will just get rid of him. Hale also shows that he stands for truth when he tries to convince everyone to lie. I know this sounds contradictory, but this is actually Hale fighting for the truth because he tries to help the completely innocent not be convicted for something that the group led by the scandal, Abigail Williams. Miller sticks up for the convicted by reasoning with Danforth by saying, “Excellency, if you postpone a week and publish to the town that you are striving for their confessions, that speak mercy on your part, not faltering.” (Miller 120) This greatly helps to show that Hale tries to get the innocent to confess to stuff they were accused for just so they can still have their lives. Hale greatly wants them to be free because halfway through the trials he starts to get a bad feeling that Abigail and her group is just a big act. With this said he does not want the innocent to suffer when they do not need to. We see in his quote specifically when he says, “Excellency, if you postpone a week,” this obviously shows that he tries to get more time to save more people. Throughout the plot we see Hale in many situations, and in many of those situations he picks the route to the truth as many Reverends would do. Hale certainly shows that he is all for the truth.

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In like manner, Proctor is truthful and advises others to be the same. Before Proctor, Mary Warren, Abigail, and the other girls are questioned in court, Proctor tells Mary to tell the truth. Abigail accused Elizabeth Proctor of using witchcraft to stick a needle in her poppet to harm her. Mary knows what really happened, but is afraid of Abigail. He says to her, “You’re coming to the court with me, Mary. You will tell in the court. You will tell the court how that poppet come here and who stuck the needle in it” (Miller 75). Abigail could charge lechery on Proctor and he knows that, but he wants the truth to be told in court so that Elizabeth is not found guilty. Mary Warren told him that she is the one who made the poppet for Elizabeth and Abigail is just trying to get his wife hanged. Arthur Miller uses a very determined tone as Proctor talks to Mary. This helps readers to understand that Proctor will do whatever it takes to save his wife. While in court, Proctor confesses to his affair with Abigail to judge Danforth and the entire court. Every word that Abigail spoke was a lie and it made Proctor furious. He says that he has known Abigail and when Danforth asks when and where, he says, “In the proper place- where my beasts are bedded. On the last night of my joy, some eight months past. She used to serve me in my house, sir. A man may thank God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you sir, I beg you- see her what she is. My wife, my dear good wife, took this girl soon after, sir, and put her out on the highroad. And being what she is, a lump of vanity, sir- . Excellency, forgive me, forgive me. She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance, and you must see it; I set myself entirely in your hands. I know you must see it now” (Miller 102). John Proctor is done with Abigail’s lies and just wants the truth to be told. He knows that Abby just wants Elizabeth dead so she can have him for herself. He makes sure that Danforth knows what Abby is really like and also that he knows he made a mistake on his part. The author uses imagery to help show what Abigail has put Proctor and his family through. It helps readers to understand what made Abigail so angry at Elizabeth Proctor. In the end, John Proctor tells the truth to expose Abigail and save his wife’s life.