Who is Responsible?

     I believe that Abigail Williams is responsible for 19 people losing their lives.  I believe that she is responsible because she started the accusations.  When Reverend Parris was questioning her about dancing in the woods, she claimed that it was all Tituba's fault and that Tituba was always trying to get her to interact with the devil.  "Abigail: I never called him! Tituba, Tituba . . ." (Pg. 40)  Because Tituba was a slave, nobody would believe her when she said that she did not work with the devil.  Even though Abigail did this just to get out of trouble, she began to accuse more people just for the sake of accusing them.

A Jail Cell

     Abigail also accused Elizabeth Proctor.  She accused Elizabeth because she had been having an affair with John Proctor and she wanted Elizabeth dead so she could marry John.  This caused suspicion to arise around the entire family so that after Elizabeth was arrested, John was taken in for witchcraft.  Because of this, her plan backfired and John was killed.  This caused her to run away because she knew that everyone was on to her.

     Abigail's accusations also caused the other girls in the town to accuse people of witchcraft.  "Betty: I saw George Jacobs with the Devil! I saw Goody Howe with the Devil." (Pg. 45)  Because the girls looked innocent, people believed them and this caused mass hysteria to arise.  The people of the town started accusing anyone that they didn't like.  Many people who, for example, wanted more land, would accuse someone who was an outsider of society of being a witch to get their land.  However, eventually this lead to respected members of society being accused and killed.

The Execution

(Act 4 from the perspective of Elizabeth Proctor)

     It had been months since I was put in jail, and the trials continued.  Reverend Hale had been in the jail and was trying to get people to confess to witchcraft so that they would not hang for it.  I had heard that Abigail had run away with all of Reverend Parris' money.  This made him decide to try and save the lives of those that were accused because he realized that she might have just been pointing fingers at everyone.  This made the judges mad but it did not stop them from hanging people.  

The Noose

     I was brought out of my cell by Reverend Hale and he wanted me to talk to John and try to get him to confess to witchcraft and not be hanged.  I agreed to talk to him but I told the court that I gave no guarantees.  They brought him out of his cell and I told him about who had been killed and who confessed.  I also told him about the fact that they pressed Giles Corey to death.  He wanted to know what I thought about him confessing and I told him "Whatever you will do, it is a good man that does it." (Pg. 126)  

     John decided that he wanted his life and he was taken to sign a confession.  The judges wanted him to incriminate other while he was saving himself.  He would not do this so the court just let the confession relate to him.  Then, they wanted to hang the confession on the door of the church.  John asked why it had to be hung on the church door and they said it was so that the whole town could see that he confessed.  They said that it would have to go on the church door or they would have to kill him.  When they said this, he said "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." (Pg. 133)  When he said this, the court asked if his confession was corrupt and he ripped it up.  The people of the court proceeded to take him to be hanged.

McCarthyism

(McCarthyism from the perspective of Arthur Miller)

Senator Joseph McCarthy

   McCarthyism was a movement started by Senator Joseph McCarthy.  It was focused around the idea that there were communists in the government and in the media industry.  It started as a reasonable concern but it quickly turned into mass hysteria that affected many innocent people.  The government started an organization for Un-American Activities.  However, towards the end of the era of McCarthyism, people began to want it to end in fear of their friends and family being accused.

       McCarthyism affected me personally because I was thought to be a communist.  I was questioned about my activities with the American Communist Party.  I had attended a few meetings in the past, but I was not a communist.  I also refused to implicate others which put me in contempt of court.  I was arrested for this, but I was later released.  This gave me inspiration for my play The Crucible.

     I wanted to write The Crucible as a statement against McCarthyism.  Through this play, I gave an image of what can happen with mass hysteria and false accusations.  Because I was affected by McCarthyism, I wanted to warn the public so that no more innocent people would be affected by this movement.  In my play, I referenced the Salem witch trials which were similar to McCarthyism because it was a period of mass hysteria.  Even though my play was not widely successful, I believe that it made an important statement against McCarthyism.

The Trial

(Act 3 from the perspective of Reverend Hale)

     I was sitting in the court listening to the trials and when the next case came up, it was Martha Corey.  Martha Corey was being tried as a witch even though there was no real reason for it.  She told Judge Hathorne that she did not even know what a witch is but he just said that if she did not know what a witch is, how could she know that she was not one.  Then, Giles Corey entered the court and claimed that he had evidence but he was arrested and taken out of the court. "I have evidence. Why will you not hear my evidence?" (Pg. 78) I thought that this was wrong because the court basically told him that his wife was going to be found guilty no matter what.

     Later in the day, John Proctor brought Mary Warren to the court to testify that the other girls were lying.  When he brought her in, Reverend Parris said that John was mischief.  When he said this, I said "I think you must hear the girl, sir, she-" (Pg. 81).  Proctor said that Mary saw no spirits and that she was just pretending.  Proctor was even able to a deposition that she had lied in front of the court.  However, Judge Danforth would not take the deposition.  Mary said that she and all of the other girls were lying.  Danforth listened to her but he also wanted to know if Proctor was trying to ruin the court.  Proctor said that all he wanted was justice and that he had no other intention.  The other members of the court attacked Proctor with the fact that he plowed on Sunday, which he said was true.  I interjected and said that he was not the only christian who plowed on Sunday.

A Courtroom

     Danforth agreed to let Proctor's wife out of the jail for one year because she was pregnant, but Proctor did not think that this offer was good enough because it still left more innocent people in jail with the possibility of being hanged.  Also, the judges wanted to accuse everyone who signed the deposition of witchcraft to which I said that not everyone was guilty and that I thought that the court had gone too far.  The judges brought in the other girls and began to question them about their accusations.  The girls said that they did see the devil in the people they accused.  The girls pretend that Mary Warren was sending her spirit on them as a bird and the "bird" attacked Abigail.  The judges believed this and said that Mary was lying.  Also, the judges brought in Elizabeth Proctor and asked her if John had had an affair with Abigail, to which she said no because she wanted to save his name.  The court arrested Proctor and then I said that I was tired of the false trials and that I quit the court.