The Mysterious and Complex Life of Abigail Williams Abigail Williams was only about 11 years old when she and her friends went into the woods at the dark of night with an African slave named Tituba. Reverend Samuel Parris, Abigail’s uncle, caught the girls dancing “naked” and that was considered a sin in their religion. Parris, the minister of the village, questioned Abigail about this twisted behavior and that’s where all the trouble began. Abigail and Betty Parris were the first two girls to start accusing people of being witches. The girls did this to keep the attention off of them and avoid punishment.
The Possibility of Evil Evil exists everywhere in the world and especially in the human race. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary evil means “morally reprehensible: sinful or wicked.” Within the short story “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson Miss. Strangeworth’s comportment can be deduced as evil. Yet if the reader were to construe Miss. Strangeworth’s actions the reader would find that Miss.
When Abigail was just a child, she witnessed her parents' brutal murders. "I saw Indians smash my dear parent's heads on the pillow next to mine..." (page 20) Afterwards, she was raised by her uncle, Reverend Parris. In the play it was written, "He (Parris) was a widower with no interest in children, or talent with them." (Page 3) Parris regarded children as young adults who should be "thankful for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered, arms at the
No matter where evil comes from, it is a very strong and dark force that only causes destruction, depression, and fear. The thought of evil being a satanic power such as the devil seems true at first, but not very possible for all cases. When we think of “evil people”, we think of serial killers, criminals, and murders. If all evil people were religious then the idea of the devil coming into play would make sense. But obviously some, if not most evil people are not religious.
The use of blame is usually a selfish man’s burden, but is sometimes justifiable in the effect of fear. In author Miller’s The Crucible, the characters’ use of blame is wrong and unjustifiable in every way. Abigail and the other girls’ actions of blaming cause the unrighteous demise of the innocent in Salem. Her actions are selfish and the other girls blame in fear of her. Abigail’s self-centered doings created a chain reaction that altered the whole village and its future.
Under this “illness” they moaned and shrieked for no reason, groveled and writhed and began to act as animals. The symptoms began to spread and Reverend Parris struggled to discover who was bewitching them. At the end of February of 1692, Abigail and Ann named their tormentors: Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osbourne. Sarah Good and Sarah Osbourne were already unpopular and distrusted by the Puritan settlement, however, the accusers began to care less about plausible accusations. The three women were arrested on March 1st and examined in front of the accusers at a special public session.
Evil involves the immorality manifested in people and their actions; the greed, lust and manipulation in society, whilst disregarding their morals and values, to embrace the darkness within. The notion of evil being perennial and omnipresent is strongly supported by Joseph Conrad’s, ‘Heart of Darkness’, and Ruth W. Grant’s introduction to, ‘Naming Evil, Judging Evil’, revolving around the concept of ‘nature vs nurture’. The nature of a person is the innate and inherent features that come naturally, whereas the nurturing is a person’s context and upbringing- their life’s experiences and teachings. If evil exists in the nature of man, it will always be present and recurring. Even though a person’s humanity can suppress and subdue the evil, it will, when given the opportunity, flare - resulting in a cyclical nature of evil.
Arrogance in pride has the potential to ruin a man’s integrity, destroy his life, and even drive a settlement to insanity. Salem experiences all of the previous and more because of the arrogance of those involved in the Salem Witch Trials. Nathan Hale is one of the few men involved in the trials who had potential to prevent its tragedies from ever occurring. When Reverend Hale was summoned to Salem, he was quick to let his “extensive” dealing with witchcraft be known. Though he is more a man of God than Parris, he is not without his faults, and his faults will prove fatal.
You have to have a predisposition to act badly, otherwise there is nothing to move you forward in doing wrong things. If we take an example from the movie, we can discuss Jack. His character came to the island either already bad or the situations he had experienced have transformed him to an evil child. This special quote from the Lord of the Flies is more on the side that a child is already born evil.
However, although many people would agree Abigail Williams is a rationalizing miscreant, the hardships she has encountered has made her a victim of her own mischief. Abigail William’s mother and father were killed when she was younger. The Indians smashed her parents’ heads together which caused them to die. When you love your family at such a young age it influences who you become later on, in life. Unfortunately for Abigail she was orphaned and ended up working for John Proctor.