The Crucible Dishonesty Quotes

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Written by Arthur Miller, the Crucible is a reading filled with many significant and important quotes. One excerpt expresses the hidden dishonesty and deceit within the Puritan society. It says, “There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires” (Miller 28). At this part in the play, Mrs. Ann Putnam is having a dispute with Rebecca Nurse over the reasoning for her many miscarriages. Unlike Mrs. Putnam, Rebecca has been granted with plenty of children making her quite envious over Rebecca. She tries to suggest that maybe the Devil helped her have so many kids. This quote is therefore used by Mrs. Putnam to express her religious knowledge in order to help explain about this mysterious and puzzling event that has been …show more content…

This scene takes place in the end of Act II right after his wife, Elizabeth was arrested and sent to jail. With Proctor left helpless, he yells at his servant, “Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretense is ripped away – make your peace! Peace. It is a providence, and no great change; we are only what we always were, but naked now. Aye, naked! And the wind, God’s icy wind, will blow”( Miller 80-81). As Proctor is screaming out of frustration in himself, he begins to understand his true self and what he and Mary must do for his wife not to die… tell the truth. In this quote, Proctor is specifically saying how the two concepts of heaven and hell have been a strain and burden on the people of Salem. The ‘pretension’ that Procter refers to in the play is the religious claim that no one sins or desires to sin. He knows that there is no way of avoiding his past sins now, nor the towns sins anymore. He wants not only himself, but the townspeople to embrace and face the reality of humanity. Everyone sins, and if they all forgave themselves for doing so, there would be no need for revenge, guilt, or shame. When speaking to Mary, “heaven and hell grapple at their backs” Proctor explains to her that whatever she decides to confess in the trials will reflect on her fate when she

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