The Three Supreme Threats Of Salem
Essay by 24 • November 12, 2010 • 654 Words (3 Pages) • 1,435 Views
The Three Supreme Threats of Salem
The Crucible is a historical play based on the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692 written by Author Miller. The play begins with Betty and Ruth not being able to wake up. Abigail comes out and says she was with the devil and she wants God now. She tells everyone that she saw Tituba with the devil. Then all the other girls start saying they were also with the devil and started to name off about twenty diverse people that they had seen with the devil. It was a very terrifying time for the people in Salem, because if someone even looked at someone else wrong they could have been charged with witchcraft. Many innocent people lost their lives over artificial accusations. Reverend Parris, Judge Danforth, and Abigail were the most hazardous to the other people in The Crucible.
Reverend Parris was a dangerous character for many diverse reasons. Parris has an enormous amount of authority over the people. He is the reverend of the church in Salem; therefore the public look up to him. Some thought of his word as being superior to the others words. Parris keeps a documentation of those who go to church and how often they go. Being in high authority is not the only thing which makes him a menace to society. In addition Parris is a very greedy man that only cares about his name. He caught the girls dancing in the woods unclothed; however instead of telling the whole truth and helping save the innocent peoples lives he lied and said they were just dancing. Parris is always claiming people are coming to demolish his ministry or the church. When Proctor and Giles came to provide evidence to the court that it was all fraud Parris said to Danforth, "They've come to over throw the court, Sir" (Miller 88).
Judge Danforth is an additional character that would be considered treacherous. He was the highest official of the court. So he had the say so in what happens. Danforth was the most powerful person in The Crucible. He could have stopped all the nonsense regarding witchcraft, but he chose to do the contrary. Being the highest official in the court was not the only object
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