Human nature in the Crucible is an important aspect to know as a reader when trying to understand the story. Human nature is such an important aspect to grasp when reading a story because it makes the story believable and relate able. Humans can be devilish, innocent, and kind, and that is important to incorporate to a story so that the story is realistic. In the crucible, there are many incidents of human nature being shown through the characters.
Putnam shows human nature through his selfishness. He wants the trial to go on so he can get more land. He does not regard any body's feelings and he is willing to hurt others to get his way. George Jacobs life does not matter as long as Putnam will be able to purchase his land after he is hung. This shows the negative side of human nature. Humans can be manipulative and emotionless and Putnam shows this.
Another character that represents human nature would be Abigail. Abigail shows human nature because she likes to rebel and cause trouble for entertainment. She is tired of being in such a restricted society and this can be seen through her actions. She causes trouble and claims that the devil is involved with her just to get a rise out of others. She likes to cause all this trouble because she is bored of her life in this secure society. A quote by Proctor shows that he knows why Abigail is acting in this way after he ended their affair:
"A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you—see her what she is. . . . She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance" (Miller 110).
He says that it is a "whore's vengeance" and that she is just blaming Elizabeth because she is mad at Proctor (Miller 110). Abigail shows another negative side of human nature because of her vengeful actions and pointless stirring up of the colony.
Proctor shows many human nature characteristics in this play. He shows lust. He lusts after Abigail although he is married to Elizabeth. In the previous quote, he admits his actions to the whole court and the whole colony (Miller 110). It put shame to his name, but it was admirable to admit because it could possibly save his wife. While he might have done this too late, he still admitted it and in that judgemental and crazy society that must have been a hard thing to do. Proctor shows some negative human traits like lust and betrayal. He also shows the positive trait of owning up to what he did although it took him awhile. Proctor knows that he has done wrong, but unlike the other characters who would have hidden his secrets, he let them out to free his wife.
Therefore, there was many portayals of different traits that can be related to human nature. There were many negatives in this certain play because of the subject, but of course other characters showed that there was a small shimmer of hope that not all the characters in this novel were completely bad. Thus, human nature was easy to see through the various characters.
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.
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