According to the research by Dr. Bella DePaulo from University of California, in which she collected hundreds of stories about people's lives and analyzed their versimilitude, lying is a part of everyday human life. Even though we look down upon it, everyone is guilty of lying to some degree every day. It's natural. The only variable is the severity of our lies which affect our daily lives.
In Miller's play The Crucible, the act of lying and deceit is what drives the plot of the story. Abigail utilizes her ability to manipulate others through her vivid acting and hyperbolic hysteria, spreading lies like wildfire in Salem. Her lies arise from both a desire to raise her social status as well as to save herself from any punishment she may receive from being caught dancing. Being a teenage girl, Abigail can only aspire to be a housemaid until she married, at best. However, as her position as the head of the accusers, Abigail has the status of the town savior, purifying the town of any sign of Satan. Abigail also lies in fear for what might happen to her if the town was to find out that Abigail attempted to kill Goody Proctor by drinking blood and dancing. Abigail portrays two faces of lying: the act of making oneself look better and the act of avoiding punishment.
Although Abigail takes lying to an extreme, she is a representation of how all humans act and their motives for lying. Lying is in human nature: it is man's way of raising his social status as well as avoiding any punishment that could be received.
I would first like to note the harsh audacity of your title. Rude. Also, some specific examples of DePaulo's findings would have been nice. But, I do agree with your point about Abigail's manipulative tendencies and man's basic instinct to avoid punishment while making himself look better.
ReplyDeleteJason's tone : "Accept the fact. People do lie. People will lie. People have always lied." However, you bring up a good point; it is simply part of human nature to lie and thrive on the lie.
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