How Do the Opinions of Others Shape Our Actions and Beliefs?

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we can see this in many of the people alive today, who in emotional turmoil perform rash actions when their lives are threatened. In time period of The Crucible, these are mostly portrayed as the scared but reputable townsfolk, who accused neighbors, family, and friends alike.

Although this animal instinct of survival comes to most, some are more tame and civilized and would rather preserve their own virtues as well as others instead of living their lives. Some of these would be Sarah Good, and Giles Corey, who till the end preserved their virtues, but lost their lives. A more controversial but similar to these is John Proctor, who due to Abigail faced a conundrum in where he feels the need to preserve both at different times towards the end of his life. He felt the need to survive to be with his wife Elizabeth, but because he felt the violation of his public status, his virtuous denied him this right and led to his death on the stocks. This defiance of human nature shows the civility of a respectable amount of people, or a justification for the belief that the human race is destined to become something more than a slightly more technologically advanced neanderthal.

As one can tell through such literary histories such as The Crucible, there is a general distinction between those who can and cannot resist the temptations to preserve their well being. As Arthur Miller makes painfully clear, these create tensions and stratifications that we cannot control in a chaotic environment such as salem during the witch trials. We see this through the actions of Giles Corey, Sarah Good, John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and the many others who were trying desperately to conceal their intentions through means of deceit.