Emma Diamond Humanities 7th Grade March 6th, 2017
Integrity Versus Reputation
We live in a world where people will do almost anything to make themselves look better. Many people will even compromise their integrity in order to gain a better reputation. Integrity is a set of unwritten rules that make someone a good person. People compromise their integrity to make themselves look better because reputation is a representation of power. Sometimes people in power lie as a way of making themselves look better and creating a better reputation for themselves. Most people like power and want to control others. This need for power can lead people to do things that compromise their integrity. This has occurred during the Salem Witch Trials, the McCarthy Era, and even the present day. Throughout history, people have compromised their integrity in order to create a better reputation for themselves.
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, many characters compromise their integrity in order to save and make their reputation better. Throughout the play, Abigail Williams continually lies in order to protect her reputation. When Abigail is accused of being a witch, she and her family lose a lot of their power and their reputation goes down the drain. When Parris, her uncle, finds out about this, he denies that there is witchcraft in his household in order to uphold his good reputation. “PARRIS, his eyes going wide: No-no. There be no unnatural cause here. Tell him I have sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly, and Mr. Hale will surely confirm that. Let him look to medicine and put out all thought of unnatural causes here. There be none,” (Miller, pg. 35). As soon as someone brought up witchcraft in his household, he denied it. If he had not shut down this idea right away, people would have stopped trusting and believing what he said. In this time period, a good reputation represented power. Everyone wanted power and influence, so they needed to uphold and preserve their good reputations. Since Abigail was the one who compromised Parris’ reputation, he felt she disobeyed him. Abigail did not want to ruin her own or Parris’ reputation so she lied and blamed Tituba for her mistakes. “ABIGAIL: She made me do it! She made Betty do it! TITUBA, shocked and angry: Abby! ABIGAIL: She makes me drink blood!” (Miller, 1953). When Abigail did something bad, she was faced with the decision of keeping her integrity or lying. She chose to lie because she did not think anyone would find out that she was lying and that she wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences for her mistakes. Not only did she lie, but she scapegoated someone else for her own mistakes. Tituba did not force her to do anything in the forest, but she blamed her anyway. Abigail did not care what happened to Tituba as long as she herself wasn’t to blame for what happened. In the play, John Proctor was hanged because he lied, but Tituba wasn’t for seeing the devil. Telling the truth is usually the better option when someone is put in a situation where they have to choose between the two. Many people lied to make themselves look better in the 1600s and as history progressed it continued to happen.
In the book Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, many boys lie and exaggerate in order to make themselves look better in the eyes of their peers. Because of the setting and stereotypes about men, reputation and power are based on masculinity and strength. Men did and still do have pre set ways that they are supposed to act just because of their gender. Because of this, some men feel like they have to be strong and powerful in order to be appreciated by society. Throughout the book, a character named Jack tries to seem strong and powerful by killing a lot of pigs and over-exaggerating the killings. “There was lashings of blood,” said Jack, laughing and shuddering, “you should have seen it!” (Golding, pg. 63). This is an example of Jack over exaggerating the goriness of the killing of a pig to appear more masculine. Ultimately, Jack’s focus on killing a pig instead of keeping a fire burning, prevents the boys from being rescued when a ship passes. This shows that being the most masculine isn’t always the best thing, especially in a survival situation. If the boys on the island had not been so obsessed with their reputations, they probably would have been rescued earlier. Most of the boys wanted to be the most powerful so they tried to seem strong and masculine. Throughout the book, the boys try to impress each other by killing and hurting animals and people. When Jack exaggerates about killing the pig, many boys consider him a role model and someone to look up to. Although the boys are constantly doing things to make them look more masculine, they probably do not always want to behave this way. Many of the boys lied about their feelings to make themselves look stronger and more masculine. For example, one of the boys, Ralph, said that he wasn’t afraid of the beastie even though he was. Since he was the chief, he probably did this to maintain his reputation as a good leader and impress the rest of the boys. The boys in the book, Lord of the Flies, compromised their integrity in order to make their reputation better, as did the real people living during the 1950s.
During the 1950s, many people did things that compromised their integrity just to improve their reputation. Most people wanted a good reputation so that they could gain power. Some wanted this so badly that they compromised their integrity in order to get it. Joseph McCarthy spent time in the military and lied about his accomplishments. “McCarthy often exaggerated his war record to help his political career. For example, he was photographed in the rear seat, or tail fun position, of a dive bomber and called himself ‘Tail-Gunner Joe,” (The Red Scare, Fitzgerald, 2007). This is an example of McCarthy lying to make his reputation better. During the 1950s, reputation for men was usually based off strength and masculinity. By lying about his position in the war, he was showing everyone how masculine he was and gaining a better reputation. By the 1950s, people were more tolerant towards other religions because the Constitution says that freedom of religion is a protected right. This meant that there was no government punishment for lying because people had different beliefs, values and ethics. Since this was true, McCarthy did not have to worry about extreme consequences like death for over exaggerating the truth. If people had found out that he lied, his reputation probably would have gone down the drain. Although there was no law against lying, most people looked at it as a bad thing. It did not make sense for McCarthy to lie about this, even though it could make him look more masculine. If people had found out, he wouldn’t have had as much power and influence. This shows that lying is risky because if people do not find out that one has lied, there is no consequence. If people do find out, it could lead to loss of a good reputation and power, especially if they are a leader. People have compromised their integrity for a better a reputation in the 1950s as well as today.
Today, people are still compromising their integrity in order to create a better reputation for themselves. The new President of the United States, Donald Trump, has continually lied to make himself look better. During a recent press conference, he said something that is completely false in order to make him seem better than other Presidents. “‘I guess it was the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan,’ he said during a heated press conference at the White House. Former President Bill Clinton received more electoral votes than Trump during both of his elections, as did former President George H.W. Bush in 1988,” (Rebecca Savransky). In this quote, Donald Trump is lying to make himself look better. This is different than when McCarthy and Abigail lied because everyone found out that Trump was lying. Therefore, his original intention to make his reputation better, backfired and actually made it worse. This shows how difficult and dicey lying is because it could either make one’s reputation a lot better or a lot worse. In this case, Donald Trump’s lies were proven wrong, which exposed him to all of the United States and other countries too. Even if Trump actually believed what he was saying was correct, as the President of the United States, he should have known the facts. Since he has recently been handed a lot of power, people have a lot of trust in him, which makes it even more important for him to be telling the truth. Donald Trump is taking advantage of his power by disregarding the fact that many people have trust him and believe what he is saying. If he continues to lie, some people will stop trusting what he says. This will show him that he has to tell the truth if he wants to have a good reputation. During Trump’s campaign many people even said they liked him because he told the truth. If he continues to constantly lie to make himself look better, these people might begin to dislike him also. Overall, Donald Trump has failed at lying to make his reputation better because people found out that his thoughts were false.
Many people lie and deceive others in order to make themselves look better and gain power. This happened during the Salem Witch Trials, the McCarthy Era, and even the present day. In all three cases, leaders have compromised their integrity to gain even more power. When they do this and people find out that they were lying, their followers lose trust in them. Lying can backfire and actually make one’s reputation worse instead of better. If people accepted who they are and did not exaggerate and lie about their achievements, this wouldn’t be a recurring problem. History is continually repeating itself, which shows a lack of progress in America. Will people ever solve this problem, or will it continue to happen in the future?
This is an essay that I wrote recently in humanities. In this assignment we had to compare the Salem Witch Trials, the McCarthy Era, and the present day using a theme. The Salem Witch Trials took place during the 1600s. In this time, many people were accused of being witches. The McCarthy Era took place during the 1950s. In this time, people were accused of being communists and most Americans were scared of Russians. The theme I chose was compromising integrity for reputation. This was important throughout all three time periods. Leaders often compromise their integrity to make their reputation better. During the process of writing this essay, I learned that making connections about history and the present day help me understand both better. I also learned that I am getting pretty good at writing TEEAC paragraphs. It is easier for me to write a TEEAC paragraph without an outline than with one. I think I can work a little bit more on making some parts of my essay more detailed. I think I can do this by reading over my essay again and asking myself what could be more clear. I think I could work a little bit more on my transition sentences and connect them more to the next paragraph. Throughout this essay I believed that I have mastered writing a thesis statement and making connections throughout different times in history. Overall, I really enjoyed writing this essay!