“TBH, I’ve never lied.”
“But I never did that! She told me to do so!”
Sure, sure. Who wouldn’t tell blatant lies to avoid adverse consequences? If you’re still a naive kid who believes that the world is a truthful place full of genuine people, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Deep down, I still believe that people are generally honest although I’m not as convinced anymore. Rather than viewing it as a crime, people sometimes justify deception as a strategic move that allows personal gain. To some extent, that could be true. However, would YOU abandon your own principles and tell lies just for your own personal gain?
Before you answer “no” right away (I know what you’re thinking), it’s the best for you to rethink twice.
Photo credit: Tjarko Busink on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-NC
Shameless lies in The Crucible
In the play The Crucible by Arther Miller, Reverend Parris’s daughter, Betty, fainted ever since she returned from a night out with Abigail. While people in the village alleged that witchcraft had been discovered, Reverend Parris disregarded such claim at first in order to maintain his prestigious reputation as the minister. Plus, he believed in his niece, Abigail, although she had not been the most trustworthy people of all.
Abigail, 17, was young, witty, and unscrupulous for her own benefits. She kept reiterating her fear and refusal of getting whipped as a consequence and reassured others that she had nothing to hide. At one of her attempts to wake Betty, she said, “‘I talked to your papa and I told him everything. So there’s nothing to–‘” (Miller 18). However, the truth is, while she played the victim, Tituba, who knew how to conjure the dead, took the blame.
TITUBA: You beg me to conjure! She beg me to charm–
ABIGAIL: Don’t lie! To Hale: She comes to me while I sleep; she’s always making me dream corruption!
TITUBA: Why you say that, Abby? (Miller 41)
While Abigail was the one lying, she blamed others for not telling the truth. As the niece of Reverend Parris, Tituba stood no chance of winning Abigail against the false accusation. Everyone believed in her well-crafted lies.
Prejudice at the Haymarket Affair trials
In Abigail’s case, she lied for the sake of avoiding punishments and keeping her name white in the village (although it was already not due to her affair with Proctor). This is similar to what happened during the Haymarket Affair in 1886 when a bomb was thrown and killed 7 polices in an initially peaceful protest. With no one knowing who actually threw the bomb, eight accused anarchists were arrested. The deeply prejudiced jury showed no sympathy. Although there was inadequate evidence to prove that they were the criminals, as the outcome, the persecuted were all sentenced to death.
Throughout history, even honorable people who were in court lied (possibly for the sake of getting rid of the corruption), how could you then guarantee that you’ve never lied?
Going back to the first question–if I’m being honest, even I cannot ensure that I never lied for my own advantages. How about you?
Works Cited
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play In Four Acts. New York: Penguin Books, 1976. Print.
Hello Sunny F,
Wow I was truly surprised by your connection to the Haymarket Affair Trials. The use of connecting the blatant lying in both the Crucible (Abigail) and how the trials had no evidence when presenting in front of a jury was very well thought out. The way the post was laid out and how each part connected to each other in a very subtle but still recognizable way was very refreshing.
Do you think that the way Abigail was lying and accusing could also be related to a child in trouble or is it different to you?
Have a good day, Claire.
Wow! Sunny has such a good layout (the use of headings and fonts at the right place). The way she describes things in that light, humorous, blogger tone, makes the content really catchy. The constant use of “asking questions” to readers, firmly grasps their attention. And have I mentioned the headings? They are bold, clear, and so very convenient for the readers to easily digest the passage. These “heads ups” makes the whole blog post very organized. I love how she applies what we learned in History to this literature topic. Both events involved unreasonable accusation and soon cascaded into an unimaginable proportion. To answer the question left at the end of the post, my reply would be it is near impossible to not lie, whether on purpose or unconscious. Lying is an automatic self-defense mechanism that is really hard to avoid. Times when one is lying to oneself is even harder to detect. All in all, this a very thorough blog post, both in the level of content and visual. The two cats in the first picture really made my day (or night) ;D
HI Sunny 🙂
first of all your theme is very attracting, especially the moons(they are very cool). The introduction paragraph was humorous and easy to understand with the change of fonts and sizes, making the post very attracting. By constantly using open-ended questions, it allows the reader to think further and reflect on the content of your post, making it memorable. The organization of this post is very very clear(with the headings and paragraphs), and it allowed me to fully understand what was trying to be expressed. I love the way she expresses her ideas is more like having a conversation with the audience, instead of just explaining what she thinks. Overall, the post was deep yet fun to read at the same time, and the choice of pictures really make the post more relaxed(especially the cats).