Hawthorne indicates that Parris is overreacting to the scheduled hanging of Rebecca and proctor because “at every execution [he has] seen naught but high satisfaction in the town.” What would happen to a townsperson who protested the hangings or appeared dissatisfied in any way with the courts proceedings and decisions would without a doubt be thought to be associated with the devil. Therefore they would be brought in for immediate questioning. We saw a few cases throughout the story where this happened. When Corey Giles talks to the judges and tries to get his point across that his wife is being suspicious reading books. “COREY: I never said my wife were a witch, Mister Hale, I only said she were reading books!” (Miller 75). But having no …show more content…
Now begone, your old age alone keeps you out of jail for this.” His evidence was that he was accused on purpose by Putnam so he could get more of Giles property, but when it came to naming someone, he could not. Danforth took this action as an immediate call for fear. “DANFORTH: No uncorrupted man may fear this court, Mister Hale! (Directly at Proctor.) None! Mr. Corey, you are under arrest in contempt of this court. Now sit you down and take counsel with yourself, or you will be set in the jail until you decide to answer all questions.” (Miller 54) The court are not afraid to send you out if they feel like they are being abused, even though they are in the wrong. Another instance of this is when john proctor goes to the court to testify against his wife. His wife explains the process very well once accused saying “ELIZABETH: The Deputy Governor promise hangin‘ if they‘ll not confess, John. The town‘s gone wild, I think—Mary Warren speak of Abigail as though she were a saint, to hear her. She brings the other girls into the court, and here she walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel. And folks are brought before them, and if Abigail scream and howl and fall to the floor—the person‘s clapped in the jail for bewitchin‘
In the play, The Crucible, a story told where the reader learns about lies, deceit, and hypocrisy. The play highlights how the puritans viewed witch trials in 1692. The character that was the most to blame for the Salem Witch trials and dreadful hangings, is Abigail Williams. There are two reasons Abigail Williams became the cause of all the Witch trials and hangings, the first being that she refused to admit to what she was doing in the forest with the other girls, the second was that she was resentful of the Proctor family.
(Miller 1348). Hale knew that in other towns of Massachusetts they had riots over the hangings of witchcraft. Therefore he tried to postpone the hangings fearing the riots might start in Salem too. Danforth choosing to not postpone the hangings caused the witch trials to be viewed as the merciless killing of innocent citizens of
Parris is an odd character, a minister who is the slimiest snake of them all, because he lives simply to satisfy his needs. The play makes him partake in nothing but evil, even in the end when he wishes to, “Postpone these hangin’s for a time” (Miller 127). He had wanted the hangings for a time, but he then realized hanging respectable people like Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor will cause the town to revolt. He takes many evil actions later on as well. No one’s evil intentions are repeated in the play as much as Parris, because it the play here is proving the theme that only the informed can be righteously judged, and Parris is a minister as well as witness of whatever happened in the forest, completely contrasting with the foolish but seemingly innocent
By using the devil which everyone feared at the time, they got what they wanted. These actions were made by love and selfishness, love which ties to many emotions, including jealousy, which as young girls they could have had to start these trials. And selfishness, which these people were known for. Even if the person accused was innocent, they did not care, for they only cared for themselves. In a small town where mostly everyone knew each other, some people began to create grudges, rivalries, and hatred for one another.
Hale and Parris wanted the trials to end, Hale notices that the trials are getting out of hand, and Parris gets threats from the townspeople. However Danforth, authoritative and cruel, decides that the trials should continue. He even uses religion to persuade the men to continue the trials. “...Now draw yourselves up like men and help me, as you are bound by heaven to do…”(205), he demands.
Who's to Blame For the Salem Witch Trails? In Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and John Proctor are responsible for the witch trials. Not only is Abigail one of the characters responsible for the witch trails, but she is the one who instigated the witchcraft fervor within Salem. John is one of the characters responsible for the trails because he has an affair with Abigail.
What if there was a society where God was loved the same amount as His wrath is feared? Well, in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the Puritans were a society who loved and feared God equally. They loved and feared Him to a point where they blamed others for their sins. A group of young girls were caught doing witchcraft in the forbidden woods. The girls put the blame on others so they would not be the ones in trouble and the accused Puritans were all innocent of doing witchcraft.
During court, Mary said she heard “the other girls screaming” and that Danforth “seemed to believe them” so she followed suit (Miller 107). Abigail and her friends saw the court believing their act, so they continued with their theatrics. This same display of emotion from Proctor also works at convincing Danforth Abigail’s words are not to be trusted, and her accusations against his wife have no
Giles Corey tries to present evidence to Judge Danforth to save his wife who was accused of witchcraft, but Danforth responds to him in anger. ¨
People deal with different forms of human nature throughout their lives. A variety of human nature aspects can be used to describe different contemporary issues in today's society. For instance, blaming others is a widely spread aspect of human nature that every single human on Earth has to deal with in his or her life. Blaming is the act of accusing others of doing something that they didn't do or were not involved in. Another form of blaming is called scapegoating.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.
Pretense, sir” (Miller, 106). The girls turn on her and she again goes back on her story and doesn’t tell the truth. Because she is aware that she may not be believable in court, she goes mad and then, accuses Proctor of
Hysteria can be defined as the exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. This definition proves true and exists throughout the course of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. In The Crucible, a group of girls go dancing in a forest around a cauldron, some even naked, and along with a black slave named Tituba. Reverend Parris, the local minister, then catches the girls in the act. As a result, Betty, one of the girls and Parris’s daughter, goes into what it seems like a coma.
The play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller demonstrates the implications of a society in complete chaos over an irrational fear of witchcraft in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Fear plays an immense role in the way people make their decisions, such as when the characters of Danforth and Mary Warren resort to hypocrisy when no other options remain. Danforth and Mary Warren both embody hypocrisy, as seen when Mary says she cannot lie anymore and then lies when she becomes scared for her life, and Danforth when saying lying will send a person to Hell, but then forcing people to choose between lying and death. Mary Warren exemplifies hypocrisy extraordinarily well in the scene when she and Proctor travel to the courthouse so she can confess that the girls have pretended everything and they never actually saw spirits.
Mary desperately wants to tell the truth because she believes their punishment will be less severe if they are truthful. Because of this Abigail threatened her and the other girls, saying they will not tell the truth, so the girls decide to use the two afflicted girls to their advantage and claim witchcraft. Their claim of witchcraft leads to an entire mess of people being falsely accused. John Proctor knows that the girls are lying but doesn't do anything about it until his wife is arrested. Whereupon he forces Mary Warren to tell him the truth and say that she will tell the truth to the court to save all of the innocent people.