Abigail's Fate In The Crucible

The Fate of Salem In the Hands of A Few

The society of Salem in the 17th century was a state of deterioration. Some citizens of Salem were forced to lie about a crime they didn’t commit, or be killed because another citizen didn’t like them. What made this worse was the types of people who made these decisions on whether they were innocent or not. People who were regarded as having little influence under normal circumstances were making decision on people's’ lives. Everyone in Salem was paranoid about the devil, or that they might be the next person to be blamed of a fake crime. In The Crucible, the Salem witch trials fuel the imbalance of power among Salem’s citizens and allow citizens who previous had no influence in the community to

Before the trials, Abigail was just considered as the niece of Reverend Parris. She is with Betty and Tituba in Betty’s bedroom and pretends that the rumoured witchcraft is affecting her. She utilizes this lie to blame people of why Betty is not feeling well and to use witchcraft as a way to eliminate John Proctor's wife, and she becomes known as one of the key witnesses in the trials. She first blames Tituba of forcing her to work for the devil in this quote, “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba…”(44). Tituba blamed someone else of bewitching Betty, and said it wasn’t herself. From that point on, Abigail was able to singlehandedly blame someone and claim they are bewitching her, which leads to their arrest and soon death. Abigail is supporting and using the trials to kill other characters she doesn’t like, to eliminate Elizabeth in an attempt to be with John Proctor, and to prevent people from blaming her for Betty’s illness. She is able to kill off people, and she is only 16. An example of the blaming the girls do is discussed by John Proctor here:”What work you do! It’s strange work for a Christian girl to hang old women.”(62) This imbalance of power is well displayed in the respect given towards

Cheever and others began as common people, but the trials allowed Cheever and others to become government officials in the trials and play an important role in arresting or detaining those accused. An ordinary person would not be randomly promoted to play a key role in the government, but the desperation of the trials leads to Cheever getting power, as the reader learns here: ”I do, Proctor, aye. I am clerk of the court now, y’know.”(76) His power is key, because when John tears up the warrant for his wife, the reader learns that the warrant if from the deputy governor himself, who gave Cheever the power to arrest John's wife: “You’ve ripped the Deputy Governor’s warrant, man!”(81). These arrests are something that Cheever could not do as a tailor. Interestingly enough, Cheever is not significantly driven by greed or desire, but rather by duty to the state and his position. He always does what he is commanded to and is trying to support the law, not trying to have personal gain. He is reluctant to take power because he doesn’t want to have such a big effect, but does it for the state anyway. Cheever’s sense of duty allows him to be a pawn in other characters’