Capital Punishment In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein And The Crucible

Eliot Spitzer once said, “Our criminal justice system is fallible. We know it, even though we don't like to admit it. It is fallible despite the best efforts of most within it to do justice. And this fallibility is, at the end of the day, the most compelling, persuasive, and winning argument against a death penalty.” Many people in America are in favor of capital punishment because some crimes violate the moral codes of our society. Thus, they harken back to the Code of Hammurabi with the belief of “an eye for an eye”. In this case, they believe that when a person commits a terrible crime that person automatically gives up their right to live and should be put to death. Despite the majority of people believing this others are opposed to the

Two notable examples of this were presented in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. Both of these works feature intimidation from locals as a way of gaining power over the accused. For instance, Justine from Frankenstein was innocent of murdering Victor’s brother William. Yet, she was found guilty by the court. Her reason why was given after the trial. “ I did confess; but I confessed a lie. I confessed that I might obtain absolution; but now that falsehood lies heavier at my heart than all my other sins. … Ever since I was condemned, my confessor has besieged me; he threatened and menaced , until I almost began to think that I was the monster that he said I was. He threatened excommunication and hell fire in my last moments if I continued obdurate.” (Shelley 94) The Crucible featured a trial in the third act where several characters accuse Abigail Williams, the main antagonist, of deceiving the court by falsely accusing people of witchcraft. As their evidence they present a follower to one of the girls, Mary Warren, to provide witness testimony to this. Abigail interferes by accusing her of witchcraft. As the trial goes on Mary Warren collapses under pressure and continues to go along with the game since she feared death. (Miller, Act 3) Both of the locations of the trials mattered to the outcome of the verdicts. Both of them were held in the areas of Geneva and