Journal #6: Falsely Blaming Someone

I think that everyone has blamed someone else for doing something that he or she really did not do. It can be something simple like "She was the one who drank the last of the milk." But it could also be something a lot more serious, like "She was the one who murdered him." An example of a serious false accusation is in The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

In those times, witchcraft was a very serious crime that almost always resulted in the accused being put to death. In The Crucible, three teenage girls begin to point fingers at others because they are scared of the consequences of some of the things that they had done. In their case, the repercussions were almost as serious as the crime in question. If someone figured out the the girls were lying, then they definitely would have been accused of practicing witchcraft and most likely would have been put to death.

However, in modern times, there could be very similar consequences. If someone were to wrongly accuse another person of murder and someone found out, the wrongful person would be punished accordingly.

For simple, everyday things, like blaming other people for little mistakes or wrong doings, there are still consequences of pointing fingers. If you were to blame someone else for doing something wrong at work, for instance, there would be repercussions. You would probably feel a lot of guilt, first of all, and that may drive you a little crazy and bother you for a long time. And if your boss was to find out, you would be blamed for both doing your job wrong and for blaming another person that did not deserve to take the fall.

One the other hand, you could also blame someone for doing something that you actually did, and they may actually be praised instead of punished. As an example, if you were to handle a business deal in an conventional way and then say it was someone elses idea, your boss may actually think it is a good idea and give the other person all the praise.

Instead of pointing fingers at other people, it would be better for everyone to step up and take the blame for the things that they have done. However, this will probably never happen. It's natural for people to want to blame others out of fear or uncertainty, and it will probably continue for the rest of our lives.