In the Crucible, Arthur Miller uses Abigale to present people would make lies to protect themself from reputation and witchcraft. Abigale had lie throughout the story, from the begin of the book when Abigale’s uncle Paris had caught Abigale dance and running around naked in the forest. Abigale begins to lie and try to stay as clean as possible, later when people are having a church, she and the other girl had to lie to protect themselves. This is nothing special, according to the articles form the ScienceDirect which stated “Lies are told for one of two reasons: either the deceptive person believes they have more to gain from lying than from telling the truth; or the deceptive person is incapable of discerning what the truth is, either temporarily or owing to some permanent mental defect. Lies may be divided into two distinct motivational categories: prosocial lies that are constructed to benefit others; and antisocial lies that are selfish.”
With the quotes from Abigale on page 11 “No one was naked! You mistake yourself, uncle (Parris)” Abigale. Another example “I told him everything; he knows now, he knows everything we.” This quote is a lie, Abigail wants to be safe and she is pushing the responsibility ty away, she wants Betty to stop acting. Even if it isn’t drama, she will make it as drama. The last example is “Oh, she’s only gone silly somehow.” This is just another example Arthur Miller shows Abigile or “Human”/Person would do anything to save their reputation.
To conclude, Arthur Miller had to use Abigile to show the truth of humanity. As one of the readers who knowns who brought Betty out to the forest to dance and sing. From the types of action of Lie that Abigail had made, this is a true example of Selfish lie.