When Faith Brings Blood
“In an ordinary crime, how does one defend the accused? One calls up witnesses to prove his innocence. But witchcraft is [...] an invisible crime, is it not? Therefore, who may possibly be witness to it? The witch and the victim. None other. Now we cannot hope the witch will accuse herself; granted?” (Miller 100). An age dominated by similar New Jerusalemite beliefs, the seventeenth century was witness to the persistence of such witch hunts. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, comparable measures played themselves out-and instrumental to the demise of theocracy and the death of countless innocent people in Salem were Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Reverend Parris.
Throughout The Crucible, Abigail Williams was, by far, the most actively involved in the continuation of the Salem witch hunt. Through the crying out of witches, and coercing others to do so as well, she single-handedly exploited theocracy in Salem in an attempt to get what she desired-John Proctor. As Abigail stated during a private conversation with John Proctor, “[...] I saw them all-walking like saints to church, running to feed the sick, and hypocrites in their hearts! And God gave me strength to call them liars [...] and by God I will scrub the world clean for the love of Him! Oh, John, I will make you such a wife when the world is white again!” (Miller 150). With this statement, the reader is able to identify that not only is Abigail producing her accusations of witchcraft out of pure selfishness, but that she proclaims-and partially believes-it to be her divine right to do so. And even when confronted with the possibility (reality) that her actions, and those of the other girls in Salem, were only pretense, she once again manipulated the court, and all of Salem, by accusing her accuser-Mary Warren-of witchcraft.
With such a disregard for the well-being of those who dare to oppose her, few did indeed dare to do so. As Mary stated when confronted with confessing the pretense of the girls, “I cannot do it, I cannot! [...] They'll turn on me-” (Miller 80). Furthermore with the death of so many innocent, a realization dawned upon the village that nobody-no matter how faithful to God they once were, or still are-was safe from an accusation of signing the Devil's book. As John Proctor exclaimed, referring to Abigail, after he himself was accused, “You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore!” (Miller 120), and as Reverend Hale explained to Elizabeth Proctor after having been accused, “Beware, Goody Proctor-cleave to no faith when faith brings blood.
It is mistaken law that leads you to sacrifice,” (Miller 132). Both statements likewise illustrate the progression of the downfall of theocracy in Salem, initially started by Abigail, and placing great emphasis on the failure of such a system to preserve the God-given rights of its citizens. However, in enacting her vengeance, Abigail was forced to rely on the ease of manipulating such figures as Judge Danforth.
Despite how extreme Abigail's crimes may have been, she could not have accomplished such a terrible feat had it not been for the ignorance and self-preservation of Judge Danforth. Blinded by the fact that he, and all of Salem, would appear completely and utterly foolish if it were proved that the children had indeed manipulated them all, Danforth always jumped to the conclusion that opposition to the court must be opposition to God himself. As Danforth explained to Parris, “While I speak God's law, I will not crack its voice with whimpering.
If retaliation is your fear, know this-I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes. Now draw yourselves up like men and help me, as you are bound by Heaven to do,” (Miller 129). Here, not only has Danforth neglected reason, but he, like Abigail, has established his own divine right-essentially claiming that as a member of the court, it is his duty to execute those who dare to oppose the laws of his court.
Once again, opposition to the witch hunt had been crushed-this time through Danforth's misunderstanding and abuse of his authority in order to preserve his reputation. However, when John Proctor brought forth evidence to the court in a more-than-legal manner-in the form of Mary Warren's deposition-Danforth was forced to find other means by which he could continue his “reign of terror” free of question. As Danforth explained to the girls gathered in the courtroom, “Now then. It does not escape me that this deposition may be devised to blind us; it may well be that this deposition may be devised to blind us; it may well be that Mary Warren has been conquered by Satan, who sends her here to distract our sacred purpose,” (Miller 102).
Clearly, neither ethics nor reason in any way altered Danforth's mindset, for he had dug himself and all of Salem a hole too deep to escape.
Had Abigail's accusations been the fuel to Danforth's fire, Reverend Parris was definitely the man to keep it kindled. During the presentation of Mary Warren's deposition to the court, Parris was nothing but trouble for Proctor-letting a long-withstanding grudge cloud his judgment of the evidence presented. As Parris stated, “Beware this man, Your Excellency, this man is mischief. [...] They've come to overthrow the court [...]” (Miller 88). Essentially, by claiming that all attempts at reason were, in reality, attempts to overthrow the court's proceedings, Parris had hammered the final nail in the coffin. There was now virtually no end in sight for the witch hunt.
A vicious cycle-in which the accusers were considered holy, the court protected the accusers, and reason was prevented from reaching the courts-had been put into effect, and ultimately marked the end of theocracy in Salem.
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, various measures played themselves out-and instrumental to the demise of theocracy and the death of countless innocent people in Salem were Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Reverend Parris. Through observing the actions of such characters during the course of the story, their roles in the continuation of the witch hunt, as well as their contributions to the demise of theocracy, become increasingly apparent. In my opinion, none of the characters in the book were solely responsible for either, however, some characters, such as Abigail, contributed more heavily than some.
Furthermore, I believe that individual events, such as the bringing of Elizabeth Proctor before the court to confess or deny her husband’s crime of lechery, were also instrumental in the continuation of the witch hunt, while those primarily involved in such events—namely Elizabeth in this case—were not.
