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Explain how Miller uses symbolic actions and figurative language to communicate the state of the Proctors' relationship at the beginning of Act 2...

At the beginning of this act, the audience sees John Proctor go behind his wife's back to season her stew, and he then later tells her that t is "well-seasoned."  This action seems symbolic of John's lack of honesty with his wife, Elizabeth.  He doesn't want to hurt her feelings or cause any more negative feeling between them, and so he tells a white lie in order to give himself an opportunity to compliment her.  She catches him in a similarly small lie later in this scene, as he'd told her previously that he was never alone with Abigail when he went into town, and now he mentions that they were alone for a moment when Abigail told him that it wasn't witchcraft that caused Betty Parris's illness.  He likely told the small lie in order, again, to prevent more awkwardness and distrust between them, but when Elizabeth finds out that he lied, it makes him seem even less trustworthy.


Further, John uses a simile when he says that "It's warm as blood beneath the clods."  This could, perhaps, symbolize that despite Elizabeth and John's somewhat distant and chilly demeanor toward one another, they still very much love each other warmly beneath that surface coldness.  John also uses a metaphor when he describes their farm as a "continent when you go foot by foot droppin' seeds in it."  He thus emphasizes the tiresome work that he's been doing, much like the tiresome work he's been doing for the last seven months, trying to earn Elizabeth's forgiveness and trust again.  He can only do a little thing here, a little thing there, and it is taking forever.

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