In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, duty is some kind of personal responsibility to save, protect, or prosecute the residents of Salem, Massachusetts. These duties range from personal retribution to trying to protect reputations to trying save family members and neighbors from the court. Their goals, actions, and obligations depended on the individual's religious sanctity, personality, and sometimes their position in society. .
A 17-year old girl, fired by lust for a married member of the town, becomes the center of the action throughout the whole book. Abigail Williams was found dancing in the woods and drinking blood in order to kill her obsession's wife. Eventually, she become the accuser of many of the good people of Salem in order to keep the focus off of her and keep her name white in the community. Even though her accusations were not truthful, her strange madness convinces her and others that it is her duty to cleanse Salem of the devil. She says at one point, "And God gave me strength to call them liars, and God made men listen to me, and by God I will scrub the world clean for the love of Him!" (Miller, 150). Her madness and lust for John Proctor make her a dangerous, convincing, and eventually powerful member of society.
After Abby's accusations of witchcraft, her uncle, Reverend Parris got nervous. He called in another pivotal character, the infamous Reverend Hale. At the beginning of the story, this expert on the mystery of witchcraft began investigating the accusations. He was convinced that his duty was to rid Salem of any witchcraft or sign of the devil. He believed that he was invincible and knew most everything about witchcraft. This was displayed when he said, "It is a strange time, Mister [Proctor]. No man may longer doubt the powers of the dark are gathered in monstrous attack upon this village." However, by the end of the book, his duty and his confidence had been slightly altered.