They are labels given at birth. Often times people share the same first name or last name or even both. Names determine how people are called. They dictate what you answer to. Your name is who you are.
Evidently, names are an important part of society and the town of Salem is not an exception. The value of a townperson’s name determines their character, status, and power. It is because of people’s names that there is even conflict at all in The Crucible. It all starts out with Elizabeth “blackening” Abigail’s name. As a result of her loss of power, Abigail tries to take the power of other people’s names to recover and grow her own. This all creates a domino effect of continuous accusations and false condemnations. This cycle only stops when somebody is strong enough to live up to their righteous name. The problem is that nobody realizes this until it is too late. The sinful infection has spread too far and branched out so broadly that going against the trend cannot destroy the root. The writing of people’s names in the devil’s book wasn’t actually real, but the intangible placement of false accusations on people is what really caused the real trouble in the town of Salem.
Often we can see this behavior in society. Unwanted names and bullying labels are placed upon people, hurting them and forcing them to continue the chain to save face. The behavior of the witch trials are not unusual, they are just exaggerated, probably for the better, as society today would not be able to realize the exact same troubles that they are struggling with.
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