others to death just so they could gain more land. “This man is killing his neighbors for their land.”(Miller, The Crucible III. 1. 523-524). This is why it is so important for people to maintain their integrity so we can live in a world of honesty and sincerity. In The Crucible, characters like John Proctor and Reverend Hale lose their integrity but find a way to gain it back.
John Proctor lost his integrity a couple of times throughout the play. He first lost it by cheating on his wife with Abigail. He also lost his integrity by letting the witch trials go on even thou he knew that the girls were lying. By doing so, and not stopping them while he could, he allowed many innocent people to die. John Proctor tried to regain his integrity back by going to the courts and telling the truth about his affair and by also telling the courts that the girls are lying and there were no witches. In the end he gains his integrity back by choosing to die rather than having his name attached to a lie. “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies!... I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”(Miller, The Crucible IV. 1. 910-917). John Hale also began to lose his integrity throughout the play. He lost his integrity by going along with the witch trials and signing accused witches to death, even though he wasn’t 100% sure they were truly witches. But once Rev. Hale noticed that that the girls were lying he gained his integrity back by quitting the courts. “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!”(Miller, The Crucible III. 1.
1499-1500). We can learn a lot about integrity from the character in The Crucible. In the play characters like John Proctor and Rev. Hale show us how easily one can lose their integrity. Either by building up a huge pile of lies or by going along and following something you know isn’t right. But these characters also have showed us that integrity can just as easily be gained back. One can gain back by his/her integrity by coming clean from their lies or by just taking a stand for they believe is right. But by gaining your integrity back you may also have to suffer some consequences for those lies. The characters of The Crucible have showed that integrity is very fragile and can be as easily lost as it can be found. Integrity is fragile, but it should be one’s goal to keep their integrity intact. It is having the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Throughout the play, The Crucible, we were able to see many examples on how fragile integrity is and how once one loses it they can find a way to gain it back. It is very important for people to maintain their integrity so we can live in a world of honesty and sincerity.