Choose a death scene from The Crucible and show how that death scene serves to illuminate the meaning of the work, as a whole.

I think that the death scenes in Miller's work really help
to bring out the work's meaning.  The first step would be to define the meaning of the
drama.  I think that one potential meaning is that when there is a collision between
what society wants and what the individual believes, one must make a conscious decision
between the two. The choice one makes defines their being and they must make peace with
such a decision for it is a reflection of their beliefs and values, reflected in moments
of death.

Giles Corey's death is a mirror of this.  Corey's
character is constructed as such that there is little in way of ambivalence or obscurity
as to what he believes.  Consider how Miller describes him in Act
One:

No man
has ever been blamed for so much... He didn't give a hoot for public opinion... a deeply
innocent and brave man.

The
fact that he has no care for "public opinion" is demonstrated in the brazen way he
interrupts the court proceedings in Act III and drafts his own legal briefs in asserting
Putnam's guilt in the accusations.  When pressured by Danforth to "give names," his
defiance is reflected in his death to be told later:

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I will give you [Danforth and the Court] no
name.  I mentioned my wife's name once and I'll burn in hell long enough for that.  I
stand mute.

The defiant
dignity with which Corey defines himself against a corrupt legal and social setting is
seen in his death.  Pressed by stones, Corey says, "More weight."  These become his only
words.  In these words and in his death, one sees a great deal of relevance to the work,
as a whole.  The pressure from the stones can be seen as the social pressure that weigh
down on the people in Salem.  While some acquiesce under these weights, Corey does not. 
He takes it and demands, "More weight."  One can see this as a reflection of his stand
of defiance, as one that shows a lack of care in what others say.  He demands, "More
weight" to show that he will be crushed to death, but will be pressured into death with
the integrity that has become a part of his identity.  His death is a reflection of both
his life and the meaning of the work in how individuals must wrestle with the choice of
having to define themselves in concert or against a corrupt
society.

For Proctor, his death is reflective of the same
decision that all accused individuals must arrive at in the course of the drama.  For
Proctor, there has been ambivalence and questioning about "the right thing."  He has
lacked Corey's single mindedness and determination.  For his own personal reasons and a
desire to live, he has shown a vacillation.  It is for this reason he "confesses."  Yet,
when he recognizes the implications of his actions, he reverses course.  In his
reversal, Proctor echoes the meaning of the play by staying true to oneself.  In the
face of corruption, one's name is the only absolute in a world of
contingency:

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Because it is my name! Because I cannot have
another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the
dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my
soul, leave me my
name!

Proctor's death scene
shows how one has to live with the consequences of their name and reputation.  In this
scene, Proctor's death reflects how individuals must live with their choices and Proctor
finally seems ready to live with his.  In this moment, Proctor has become a force to
transcend that which is contingent.