A Blockade In Identity

In the Crucible, Abigail and her friends were in the forest one night dancing around a fire when Reverend Parris saw them. Towards the middle of the first act, Abigail shows panic as she tries to convince her friends to lie to everyone despite the rumors of witchcraft. Her length goes as far as slapping Betty after Betty states that Abigail drank blood to charm Proctor’s wife into death. This a good example of how secrets at the personal level can affect a group of people. In this certain situation, the friends danced and wished for the death of John Proctor’s wife, yet accusations are being thrown of witchcraft. Abigail’s personal identity is interrupted by her social identify because of these acts. She went out with a group of friends and did something that isn’t completely horrid, but now her personal identity has to pay the consequences. In this case, at worst, a hanging. I can go further and express how socially determined decisions (which can be compared to peer pressure, of a sort) can affect one’s life at a personal level. Here, Abigail must confess or lie. If she confesses, she will be whipped and humiliated; if not, she may be caught in a lie which will force everyone’s believe towards witchcraft and she will be hung. Other members of Abigail’s clan are convinced that they should speak the truth, but Abigail’s personal identity stands in the way of her making this logical decision with her friends. Furthermore, on the reverse end of my previous statement, personal identities can stand in the way of social identities as well.