Name In Court example essay topic

What is the importance of names? In this essay I will be trying to answer the question " What is the importance of names". Based on the play - The Crucible. Briefly I will explain what happened in the play.

In Salem village, Massachusetts, in 1692, which hysteria swept the area? Salem village was a puritan society, you either loved God and did no wrong or you lived with a blackened name. A group of young girls were found dancing naked in a forest. Two of the girls then fell unconscious for a few days. Some of the residents of Salem village said it was witchcraft, from then onwards madness struck in Salem village. Hundreds of people were arrested because they were said to have done work for the devil.

The play then goes on to focus on two people named John and Elizabeth Proctor, who were accused and it shows how they reacted throughout the witch hysteria. To set the scene, Betty is aged ten. She was one of the girls that fell unconscious in the forest. Reverend Parris is her father and Abigail Williams is her cousin, they are both very upset about Betty.

Abigail was also found in the forest with Betty. Parris is obviously upset and he starts to question Abigail". Your name is entirely white, is it not". he asks her, Abigail answers " There be no blush about my name". Already names are being questioned whether they are white or black?

When witchcraft was cried in Salem village, Massachusetts, Abigail Williams was centre of it all, from start to finish. In the Putnam house, when Tit uba - Parris's slave from Barbados, owned up to witchcraft, herself, Abigail and Betty began to shout out names of people who they had supposedly seen with the devil. This was an example of using names as self-defence. Using them to protect themselves and making themselves look better.

The court brought the people who were accused of doing work for the devil, and accused them of witchcraft. If they denied the charge and the evidence was sufficient, they were sentenced to hang. However if they were prepared to confess to the charge, and risk loosing their "white name", they could have then been jailed or let off with a small fee! Giles Corey, a local resident, stood up in court to try and prove a point, and mentioned that his wife read strange books in the past. A few hours later his wife was arrested.

Many other people had used a name in the wrong way; they had betrayed that person. Even writing your name on a petition could have got you locked up and if you refused to give a name in court you would also be arrested. That's what happened to Giles Corey, he was asked many times to give a name in court, but each time he refused. In the end he was pressed to death. When he was being pressed to death with great rocks, all he could reply was "More weight". This man knew the cost of giving names to the court and saw any question as an attack.

John Proctor, one of the main characters, was absolutely devastated when his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, was arrested for having a puppet which the court mistakenly thought she was using for a method used to hurt someone called voodoo. John took it into his own hands and decided to fight in court to bring her justice. By doing this he ended up sacrificing his own name to the court by admitting he was a lecher, this was to try and save his wife. He also accused Abigail of being a whore. Elizabeth was called into the court and asked if her husband had committed lechery. Elizabeth refused to blacken her husband's name, and denied it.

By the end of the play Elizabeth and John are both in jail, both accused of being seen with the devil. The emotional and moving speech between John and Elizabeth persuaded John to plead guilty to the charge of witchery. But not for long. John was asked many questions about other people he may have seen with the devil: many of who were dead. John couldn't admit to seeing them with the devil because he was lying about the confession and, in his own words:" They go like saints. I like not to spoil their names".

Meaning he did not want to lie and blacken their names when they had died to save it. It was Deputy Governor Danforth who decided John Proctors confession was to be wrote on paper, signed and hung on the church wall. But why did the court want John Proctor's name? Because like many other victims of the witch hysteria that happened back in 1692, they needed Johns confession to prove that the madness going on was true and that they were not killing people for no reason. They needed victims to prove that they were right. John Proctor refused at this point and ripped up the confession.

He did so to save his name. He couldn't have risked his wife and children knowing that their husband / father's confession, to doing work for the devil was hanging on the church wall. But other than that, why did he rip up the confession? He did it because he didn't want to sacrifice his name for confessing to something he did not do. It was his name that he would have given away, and he was not prepared to do that. He didn't just have himself to think about, he had his wife, two sons and a third baby on the way.

He did not want to leave them with a name that was blackened. Elizabeth helped John to forgive himself. One thing we can say about John Proctor was that he was willing to die to save his name. Today many people still die for their conscience.