One decision is all it takes for the life of a person to go from one path to another. The decision can be good and effect one’s life in a positive manner or can be bad and have negative effects. In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, Abigail Williams and John Proctor make life altering decisions. Willy Loman, the main character in The Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller, also makes a decision that will change his life. This paper will examine the life changing decisions and the reasons behind them for Abigail Williams, Willy Loman, and John Proctor. Abigail Williams is one of the women who participated in the witchcraft trials. Her reason behind participating in the witchcraft is because she wanted Elizabeth Proctor to be gone, so that she could have John Proctor to herself. This led to the …show more content…
When he was younger, he was a very successful salesman. His mind started not working properly, which caused many challenges in his life and the people around him. Willy had it all planned out to take his life away. The plan was not known to many. It included using a tube with gas to kill himself. His family discovered this and was very concerned. The moment Biff finds out about his father’s arrangement, he does all he can to stop it. The feeling of loneliness starts to get to Willy. In the middle of the night, Willy starts the car and pulls out of the driveway. He should not be driving because of his disease. The result of this is a crash and the death of Willy. “Willy kills himself because this is the only way he can give his son the money that he sees him needing to be successful” (Abbotson). The money will come from the Life Insurance Company. The quote shows that Willy feels like the money is more important for his son than his own life. He wants his son to achieve the American Dream and “have money.” The reader never finds out if the Loman’s got their large amount of
I believe that Abigail Williams is to blame for turning the town of Salem against many people, and I think it is her fault that several people were killed. Abigail Williams sends the town into a state of hysteria by accusing men and women of practicing the satanic art of witchcraft. Abigail’s flaws - her lustful desire for John Proctor, her deceptive habit of lying in order to retain her good name in the town, and her selfishness and obsessive aspiration for power – led her to be ultimately responsible for the catastrophe of the witch hunt in Salem.
Abigail Williams tried very hard to keep her pride together. She kept secrets in order to keep her name good to people in Salem Village, but after a while she failed. After she accused so many victims, people stopped believing there were ever really witches in Salem. When John admitted to adultery with Abigail, she didn't deny it, yet she didn't say she did not know him. She wouldn't lie to the court yet she refused to admit to this. She told John her name was good in the town in the beginning , but she didn't seem to know what was in store for her reputation, especially when she fled
Abigail Williams is manipulative and wants everything to go her way. She is the main character and causes trouble everywhere she goes. The Salem Witch Trials is about hearings and prosecutions of people who were accused of witchcraft. In The Crucible Abigail is a no good villain. Abigail first commits adultery with Elizabeth’s husband. Later on Abigail begins to accuse innocent people of doing witchcraft which causes them to die. Abigail Williams uses the Salem Witch Trials to put out all the resentment she has toward everyone.
have for him but to keep his life. To lose his dignity but to keep his
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, various characters, whether it is from physical trials or unseen personal struggles, experience some kind of major conflict. There are those who spend every day in fear, wondering whether or not they will be falsely accused of witchcraft. There are others who struggle with more internal trials, such as forgiving those who have hurt them. The protagonist, John Proctor, was a man of strong moral constitution, and held himself to a high standard for the sake of his good name and family. As a result of this, he struggled with a major internal conflict throughout the play.
The word hero comes from the Greek that means someone who fights adversity with great strength and power, in the face of danger. They often give up their own personal concerns for the greater good. Unfortunately, this hero can have downfalls. When this happens, he or she is considered to be a tragic hero. A tragic hero is someone who makes a judgment error and that inevitably leads to his or her downfall. In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is a perfect example of a tragic hero. His old housemaid, Abigail Williams, had an affair with John that started this chaos with the trials. She wanted John’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor, dead thus starting the Salem witch trials. Many of his friends and family were sent to accused of witchcraft and sent to jail because of John and his actions. Even though John did good things for his family, he also did a bad thing that leads to his downfall, like a tragic hero.
It is stated by Standage that, “Sandage believes Willy Loman was a success. But the message of the play, he says, is that “if you level off, you have to give up. You might as well not live”” (Baird 25). This is quite ironic because all Willy does is push to be successful and he when he can’t he puts expects his son’s to follow through so he gives up. He constantly reminds them, “the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (Miller 67). This is also ironic because Willy is the man who creates personal interest in the business world, but when everyone passes away he is left with nothing but the past to remember. This false reality that Willy creates for Biff brings on the conflicts between the father and son duo due to the fact that Biff fails as a result of the way he was raised. So by the time Biff goes to interview for his first job he thinks that his success will come with no effort
Abigail Williams is accused of witchcraft early on. In order to avoid conviction she confesses to witchcraft, accuses Tituba of forcing her to drink blood and do witchcraft, and accuses Elizabeth Proctor, Sarah Good, Goody Osburn, Bridget Bishop, Goody Sibber, Goody Hawkins, Goody Booth, and countless other innocent people in court. She throws herself down in the court and does other dramatic actions in order to convince the court that a person is in fact a witch. This leads to people being falsely accused of witchcraft and forced to accuse others in order to live. Because of Abigail's growing power in the court, people become fearful of her. One of the most important people who begins to fear her is Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth is afraid that Abigail will accuse her of witchcraft. She also gives more insight into Abigail's behavior in court. She states that Abigail will “scream and howl and fall to the floor” when the accused are brought forth (50). The people and the court begin to believe that Abigail can see who the witches are. Her words and actions become the deciding factors in a defendants fate.
Yet, his strive for success is what leads him to put a gap between him and his family. “Because he is focused on financial success, he often ignores the more important things in life. It is clear that Willy truly loves his family, although he is very misguided.” (Schultz). It can be seen that Willy loves his family, but the constant love for money overshadows his thoughts which leads him into a bad relationship with his family. This love for money is also what leads him to his death as Angela Schultz points out. Willy tries to help his relationship with his sons by trying to provide them with riches. This, of course, is the only way he knows to mend their relationship. He realizes though that he has no money, so he commits suicide so that they can get the money from his life insurance. “In fact, he kills himself for money. Because he confuses materialistic success with a worthiness for love, he commits suicide to give his son Biff the insurance benefit as a stake for more business.” (Cardullo). His family, however, did not think the same way as Willy, and they did not live by the same lifestyle. His family cared more about him than they did about the money that he could provide. Willy did not see this though, In his mind, the life insurance money was worth more to them than he
Abigail Williams is the troubled niece of Reverend Parris of Salem. She is an orphan; made so by brutal natives who killed her parents before her very eyes. The witch-hunt begins when Abigail is at the age of seventeen. She has a large role in this novel, especially on these dark events and also her relationship with John Proctor.
Miller’s Death of a Salesman is the tragic account of the demise of a meager salesman, Willy Loman. Willy is passively nearing the end of his career and life. His two sons, Biff and Happy show little remorse or pity for Willy, despite his obvious senility. When Biff borrows a football from his coach to practice passing, Willy encourages him: “Coach’ll probably congratulate you on your initiative!” (Miller 30). Willy erroneously praises Biff, not realizing that such affirmation could deceive Biff. Later, as Biff awaits an appointment with a prominent businessman, he feels compelled to steal his fountain pen, “I don’t know, I just—wanted to take something”(Miller 104). Such incidents set a precedent for Biff, eventually leading to his lackluster professional status. Willy once again deludes Biff as he mistakenly deters him from his studies. When Bernard reminds Biff, that in order for Biff to graduate, he must study his math, Willy initially agrees and encourages Biff to study: “You better study with him, Biff. Go ahead now”(Miller 32). When Biff confidently shows Willy his sneakers, on which he printe...
One night the girls were caught dancing in the woods naked by Reverend Parris. Abigail threatened the other girls she would kill them if they ever said what they were actually doing, which was conjuring spirits. Abigail was the one who had done most of the wrong dong including drinking blood. Because of this event the start of the whole witch hunt and hysteria can be accredited to Abigail. Whenever she would be accused she would make up a lie, and threaten the other girls to say it was the truth.
Willy's search to find his mistakes of his life failed because, even though he found out what happened to Biff, he did not search for the right thing: his identity. Willy found out that his affair made Biff envision his father as a fake and phony, but he did not realize that a salesman was not the right job for him. When Willy died, no one came to his funeral (Act II. Scene I). This just showed that Willy was not the man he thought he was. He thought he was a great salesman with an unlimited amount of friends, but, when he died, no one was at his funeral but his family (Act II. Scene I). It showed that Willy was just a simple craftsman, who only needed attention and love from his family, and did not need fame or to be well-known ("Arthur Miller and Others," 311-314)
Willy's suicide allowed him to provide a better life for his son, Biff. While thinking about his suicide plan Willy says;
Willy’s hubris makes him feel extremely proud of what he has, when in reality he has no satisfaction with anything in his life. Willy Loman’s sons did not reach his expectations, as a father, but he still continued to brag about Biff and Happy in front of Bernard. Willy Loman caused the reader to empathize with him because before his tragic death he did everything he could for his family. Empathy, Hubris, and Willy Loman’s tragic flow all lead him to his death that distends from the beginning. He is unable to face reality and realize that he’s not successful in life or at his job; he remains living in a world where he thinks he’s greater than everybody else because he’s a salesman.