Proctor was not old, maybe he had time to find his real self. But Rebecca was another kind of person. Hers was the way of truth. But they took Rebecca outside and hanged her by her neck. Smedes concludes that Rebecca tells us what integrity is about.
Integrity is a bigger thing than telling the truth.
It is about being a certain kind of person. It is about being people who know who they are and what they are, and it is about staying true to what they are even when it could cost more than they should have to pay. Now reclaiming the moral core of our existence is not the same thing as being moralistic, forever on the prowl to ferret out evil doers or focussing our energy and attention on all the favored peccadillos of our sisters and brothers, wagging our fingers in righteous condemnation. Reclaiming the moral core has to do with how each of us looks deep within to discover the truth at our center. That truth reveals that our lives derive their meaning from our relationship with God and with all that God has created, and that these relationships have structure and direction.