The Crucible, Arthur Miller "How and to what extent does The Crucible show that it is more damaging to deny the truth, than it is to acknowledge it?"

In The Crucible, Arthur Miller gives many examples that show that denying the truth, and lying to do so, is far more damaging than it is to simply acknowledge it. The play demonstrates the potential damage that can occur to a person's reputation and livelihood when false accusations are placed upon them. It shows that when certain individuals are willing to deny the truth in order to avoid the consequences of acknowledging it, that denial …

…innocent people would not have been hung and perhaps only a few who were actually guilty would have been found guilty in the court proceedings and subsequent trials. The great lengths that characters in "The Crucible" were willing to go to in order to absolve themselves of responsibility for their actions shows that it is much easier and substantially more probable to bring about damage by denying the truth than it is by acknowledging it.