Do Not Pay for More Than You Receive
             Martin Luther King Jr. once stated, "Freedom has always been an expensive thing." This statement has been a fact of the world before money was invented. In "The Crucible", by Arthur Miller, it is shown that one thing in the world that is definitely worth fighting for is one's freedom.
             Freedom is like everything else in this world; it must be worked for. The characters in the play must fight to show that they are not witches and keep their freedom. Many people were threatened with the possibility of being put in jail. "In this case, I have no choice but to arrest you for contempt of this court, do you know that?" ("Miller" 868). Once faced with the possible revocation of their freedom, people may say things that are not true to stay out of jail. During the Salem witch trials, many people confessed to being witches to avoid being put to death. Proctor: "I want my life" Hawthorne: "You'll confess?" Proctor: "I will have my life."(884). The loss of ones natural given freedom is a terrible experience. People become almost lifeless when they have their freedom revoked. "He sits like a great bird; you'd not know he lives except he will take food from time to time." (880). Many people only learn the value of freedom until they have lost it.
             Freedom can be taken away if abused. Anything that is worked for must be protected and valued. In the play The Crucible, John Proctor decides that he would rather die than to sign a piece of paper that would ruin his name. " Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life!"(886). Here, John Proctor realizes the value of the name he has worked his whole life to establish. This is also were he realizes that he will, in truth, not be free if he were to sign the paper of testimony. It is when freedom is abused and revoked that th
             ...