A restrictive society, like in The Crucible and The Handmaid’s Tale, drives people to hide themselves from others. When there are deadly consequences for any small mistakes you make, it forces individuals to put on the guise of being perfect in fear they will be killed.
Reputation
In The Crucible, any act that goes against the Ten Commandments will immediately put one at risk of danger in their religious town. John Proctor, a respected man in the town holds a dark secret; his affair with former servant Abigail Williams. As Abigail charges Mrs. Proctor with witchcraft in attempt to get her out of the picture, John forces Mary Warren to confess Abigail’s lies.
PROCTOR. …you will tell the court what you know
…
MARY WARREN. I cannot do it, I cannot!
PROCTOR. Make your peace with it! (76).
He is too cowardly to claim Abigail is lying for then she will expose their past affair, thus ruining his reputation in the town. However, he has no trouble terrorizing Mary Warren into exposing Abby, even at the risk that the girls will turn on her.
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PROCTOR: Because it speaks deceit and I am honest! But I’ll plead no more! I see now your spirit twists around the single error of my life, and I will never tear it free! (59).
John Proctor desperately wants to be a good person and tries to convince himself that he is good, despite his mistakes. However, he isn’t able to tear free from his mistakes because the only person that focuses on it is himself. He is scared the town will find out about his affair because it will ruin his honest reputation. At the same time, the fact that the town doesn’t know is what makes Proctor torture himself with the idea that he is a hypocrite who puts on the facade that he is honest, when in reality, he withholds the truth due to his fears.
Paranoia
In Gilead, the people are in constant fear that they are being watched in case that what they have done is not orthodox. The government makes handmaids travel in pairs so they are able to monitor each other in case one of them goes against the rules. Offred thinks of her new handmaid partner as a goody-two shoes who truly believes in the Republic’s ideals.
I think of her as a woman for whom every act is done for show, is acting rather than a real act. She does such things to look good, I think…But that is what I must look like to her, as well. (31).
They must both follow the strict rules expected of them if they wish to survive in Gilead, but Offred complains that her partner is too virtuous, when she herself has also only ever followed the rules and said what was expected of her because she is scared to be punished for anything otherwise.
Citations:
- Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play In Four Acts. New York: Penguin Books, 1976. Print.
- Atwood, Margaret Eleanor. The Handmaid’s Tale. New York : Anchor Books, 1998, c1986. Print.