Mehmet Asim Ozvar Ms.Wambui- Ms.

Macey The Crucible Essay 5/13/13

The 1692 Tragedy of Salem: Who is Most Responsible The Witchcraft Trial was a tragedy in Salem that caused many innocent people die . The trial was a place where if someone fainted when they saw a random person, that person was believed to have committed the crime of being with devil. If the person confessed that she/he was with devil ,then she/he was sent to jail. Howe ver, if he/she doesn t confess,she/he was condemned to death.The causes that made this tragedy happen was the system of government, theocracy, and the two main ch aracters -Danforth and Abigail. In theocracy the civil leaders were believed to have direct personal connection with God. Hence, they were respected ,considered superior than the people of Salem and secured from the pandemonium of the Devil . The Civil Leader in The Crucible is Danforth who decided whether the accused p erson was going to be hanged or sent to jail. In these trials one of the main ch aracters named Abigail accused a number of people of witchcraft and caused them to die. Theocracy, Danforth and Abigail were the dominant characters that affect ed the village of Salem. Abigail bears most of the responsibility for the activities that occurred in the woods and trials in Salem. Once discovered she finds herself attempting to conc eal her behaviour for if she confesses she will be inclined to expose her affair with John Proctor, a married and respected man. Instead she shifts the focus fr om herself by accusing others of witchcraft. This desperate act of self-preserva tion soon becomes her means of power. With an unrelenting willingness to discard Puritan code, Abigail is independent and believes that nothing is impossible no r beyond her grasp. These qualities often lead to creativity and a thirst for li fe, but she lacks a conscience to keep herself in check. Possessing shrewd insig ht and a capacity for strategy, declaring witchcraft provided her with instant s tatus and recognition within Salem, which transposed into power. Mark this. Let e ither of you breathe a word. Or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. (Abigail) This quote by Abigail shows that Abiga il used new authority to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, she tel ls lies, manipulates her friends and the entire town in an attempt to hide her s ins, threatening those who dare oppose here. Although Governor Danforth did not appear in this play until Act Three, he shoul d take the most blame for the ridiculous witch-hunt in Salem. In Arthur Miller s p lay The Crucible, Miller demonstrated clearly that it was Danforth s flaws the hol es in his logic in the case of witchcraft, his lust for authority, and his extre me obsession with pride that led him to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the holocaustic witch-hunt in Salem. we must rely upon her victims and they d o testify, the children certainly do testify. As for the witches, none will deny that we are most eager for all their confessions (Miller 100).From here, it is clear that Danforth thinks witch trails are too illusive to use normal civil pro ceedings to determine who is guilty or not. Second, he also messed up the differ ences between religious and civil duty. This is why when Proctor asked for a law yer, he refused and said, The pure in heart need no lawyers (Miller 93). However, this is not taking a vow in a religious ceremony; this is in the court. In other words, people have the right to call for lawyers to defend themselves. Third, t he quote A person is either with the court or he must be counted against it, ther e be no road between (Miller 94) shows that Danforth is an ultraist in some ways he drew a red line between the court and its people. Danforth is to blamed as we

ll as Abigail for the tragedy in Salem. A theocracy is a very dangerous form of government because it is unjust, has no real structure, and ironically put the innocent to death and let the guilty live . It gives a right to a group of random people to control and make decisions und er the title of God's favor. Like in The Crucible theocracy didn't help find the guilty. People in charge were proclaiming random beliefs to figure out who to b e accused. However, none of them was correct. For example, the partisans of Theo cracy stated that John Proctor, a respected man in Salem, committed a crime of b eing with devil. This was wrong because he was not the responsible one for the t ragedy in Salem. Theocracy should be prohibited for a more disciplined and accur ate government. Abigail, Danforth and the form of government are most to be blamed for the trage dy in Salem. They led to many innocent people die and a chaos in Salem. Trials w ere not fair for each side. If someone lied, they d not even notice.Also you can t t rust anyone even if they re the oldest and respected person.Killing innocent people is not a justifiable case. If these characters weren t in the play, this disaster wouldn t happen. As Arthur Miller says I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it. No one has the right to judge a person just because they acted bad. They should be aware of their sins not others.