Apology and forgiveness are also concepts that help shape The Crucible.  This is shown when Abigail Williams and the other girls do not apologize for accusing many members of Salem for being witches.  In return, the people of Salem do not forgive them and Abigail is forced to leave Salem.  Forgiveness also plays a role at the end of the play when John Proctor is about to be hung.  Before he is hung, John asks for Elizabeth’s forgiveness.  She responds, “John it come to naught that I should forgive you, if you’ll not forgive yourself.”  She is telling John that he must forgive himself first.  Later when John signs his confession, he wants forgiveness without posting it on the church door.  Proctor later apologizes to Elizabeth for taking back his confession.

                Identity, apology, and forgiveness are concepts that take a major role in The Crucible.  Without the false identities no one would have been accused of witchcraft and the Salem witch hunt would have never occurred.  Identity also forced John Proctor to go to the gallows.  Because there was no apology from Abigail and the other girls, Salem was in hysteria.  Forgiveness was also needed for Proctor to realize he was a good man, that he could not give up his name to the jury, and that he had to die on the gallows.  Proctor also confessed for being with Abigail to the court and Elizabeth.  Forgiveness and identity also gives John Proctor the strength to die.  He believed that giving his name and his friend’s was worst than dying.  Identity, apology, and forgiveness shape the story The Crucible and allow the play to exist.