Xavier Ryan
Ms. Cordell
English 11
30 October 2014

Cruise in my Bowl

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, in the spring of 1692 in the city of Salem,
Massachusetts, the citizens are fighting to overcome the cases of the
Salem Witch Trials. The accusations of witchcraft have escalated out of control, forcing the society of Salem to fight for their pride and lives. The theme of
Pride is My Everything is pre­evident within the play. The main characters who battle with this concept are Hale, Elizabeth, and John Proctor. They are continuously blinded by their pride. Hale is an intelligent man whose pride is fueled by convicting ones accused of witchcraft. Hale was commissioned to Salem to investigate Salem's possible witchcraft circumstances. His introduction to the play displays pride from the start. "This is a beloved errand for him; on being called here to ascertain witchcraft he felt the pride of one specialist...unique knowledge has at least been publicly called for."( Miller 32). Hale takes his pride to another level when the Salem crisis gets out of hand. He dictates himself a failure when he cannot motivate the accused to confess. He is justified in that claim and his pride is broken. Another significant character, Elizabeth Proctor, is also an excessive prideful individual. She is a bitter woman and is drastically hurt by her husband John Proctor.
Elizabeth’s pride adds more strain to the lack of stability in their relationship due to Proctor’s affair with Abigail. Elizabeth is not opposed to the idea of having mercy when she tells
Proctor, "John, it come to naught that I should forgive you, if you'll not forgive yourself"(Miller
126). Elizabeth and her prideful characteristics and partially even love