Abigail Williams The Road To Power Analysis

Humanity depends upon legacy - history and memories that all depend on a person’s impact on our world. Without a legacy, there is no purpose in living, and this cannot be the case because humans require a purpose to survive. Therefore, a desperation for a purpose is created, as well as a means of acquiring it - power. This five letter word has been the reason of most of history's wars and people’s hardships. This one word is what we depend on and use to gauge whether or not our lives mattered. The more power to a person, the more pull they had in the world; the more they influenced. Yet, as with everything, there is a soft spot, a building block that could come crashing down at any moment with the wrong sequence of steps. This increment of

With power comes a hunger for more, a thirst that can never be quenched. This was true for Abigail Williams - she used her power to save herself, but soon discovered the power of abuse. Anyone she did not remotely like was accused and sentenced to hang unless they gave up their reputation through conceding to witchcraft. Lives were lost at her whim, and all for nothing. Abigail’s power stemmed from her acting as a sort of prophet and victim of the Devil. With this delusion deceiving the town, Abigail and her friends became a force to be reckoned with “And folks are brought before them, and if they scream and howl and fall to the floor --- the person’s clapped in the jail for bewitchin’ them,” (Miller 53). Abigail’s word was so powerful that anyone could be accused and sentenced to hang - no authoritative position they held could possibly save them from her. She even threatened the well-known Judge Danforth who oversaw the accused in court: “Let you beware, Mr. Danforth. Think you to be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits? Beware of it!” (Miller 108). A power hungry monster was created, a monster that was unstoppable until it was too late. Nineteen deaths at the whim of only a child’s word. A word that caused the crumble of a whole town and its mass hysteria. Clearly, the need for power is too great and in the hands of anyone, it is the most dangerous weapon. Once an individual has the freedom to exert their power over other, the latter is in for quite some misery. Power s a hunger that should and will never be