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Danforth's Grievances In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

671 Words3 Pages

In the late 1940’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy began a tyrannical attack against the people of America. McCarthy went through the nation and accused powerful people of being a part of the communist party. McCarthy had no grounds for his accusations; he would just keep accusing people until they broke down and just said they were a communist to end his attacks. His form of “trial” worked until he tried to accuse Arthur Miller, a brilliant play write, of being a communist. Arthur Miller was livid and fought against Senator McCarthy and his House Committee on Un-American Activities the only way he knew. Miller wrote a play, The Crucible, to express his grievances against McCarthy and his followers (Howard, Amy). The Crucible uses the Salem Witch …show more content…

Danforth felt as though God brought him to the court for a reason. If someone was against the court, then they were against God. “You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between.” (The Crucible. Act 3. Line 442) In Danforth’s eyes those who did not come to the courts aid, were against the court. No one in town could be indifferent, they had to pick a side. If a person was not with the court, then they were a supporter or contributor to witchcraft. “Now by God’s grace, the sun is shining up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it” (The Crucible. Act 3. Line 449). God is shedding light on the devil worshippers. All those who are afraid of the witch trials, must be witches because they are afraid of persecution. Danforth is using the trials for his own religious agenda. The Puritans believe that you are already predetermined on whether you will go to heaven or hell (Wolfe, Lisa). The people of the Puritan religion want their neighbors to be inherently evil because it helps their odds of being the one destined for heaven. Danforth is using the witch trials to purge the village of Salem of all evil beings. He claims to be a crusader of God, but he is only trying to save his own

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This goes for Judge Danforth, too. He worries more about his reputation as a judge that he is willing to hang innocent people in the community. For example, when John Proctor confesses his affair with Abigail and how she hopes to take Elizabeth’s place, Danforth purposely chooses not to believe Proctor. He, even, says, “She [Elizabeth] spoke nothing of lechery, and this man has lied,” (Miller 114) without holding further investigation of the confession! Danforth believes Abigail and the girls because he does not want to publically admit he was deceived by them, for it will harm his reputation.

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The times back then were terrible. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953 about The Salem Witch Trials of 1692.McCarthyism was the “witch hunt” for the communist in 1953.the parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism are naming names,lack of proof ,and reststance. The first reason they are parallel is because of naming names. Hollywood director Elia Kazan went in front of the HUAC twice. The first time he did not confess and names.

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Another viewpoint, maybe that Judge Danforth was just trying to get the Salem witch trials to blow by quicker, but if this was true, he would´ve accepted John Proctor´s evidence showing that the girls were just playing tricks them. This would make the witch hysteria go away much quicker. Instead, he benefits himself by letting the Salem witch trials live longer. If Danforth was a good Judge he would not have acted so adamant and did his job as a judge to interpret the

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In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible we are introduced to the dynamic character of Judge Danforth. We first meet Thomas Danforth in Act III where he is in his sixties depicted as the gullible deputy Governor of Salem, Massachusetts. Alongside Judge Hathorne during the witchcraft trials of 1692. Our first meeting with Danforth is in the courtroom. The situation taken place is the questioning of Martha Corey, who is the wife of Giles Corey.

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Judge Danforth’s unwavering egotism culminates in the unfortunate deaths of Salem townsfolk. Arthur Miller’s classic play The Crucible demonstrates how the actions of one person can affect many others. Judge Danforth cares more about his own reputation than what is right. Often times people try to think of what is right instead of saving their own face, Judge Danforth is an exception to this stereotype. The Salem Witch Trials were a horrible time where many people lost their lives due to an unjust court system.

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He shows this when he asks Francis Nurse, “Do you know who I am, Mr. Nurse?” (p.209). Danforth thinks the law should be followed exactly as it is written without exception. He thinks that anyone who is against the trials is trying to go against him and the church. He is the judge and he does not like anyone questioning the way he runs the court.

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When Reverend Parris and Reverend Hale requested of Danforth to postpone the hangings of a second group of accused to allow time for their confessions, he refused. Danforth based his decision off of the fact that twelve other had already been hung for the same crime; therefore, he wanted to remain consistent. In this decision Danforth had shown his selfish qualities. He decided to hang the second group of accused persons because he was worried about his reputation. If Danforth would have postponed the hangings, the towns people could view this decision as Danforth admitting he made a mistake when he hung the first twelve people.

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There are a bountiful of different characters that struggle with the conflict of witchcraft. Even the minor characters also struggle with it, because the major characters draw in the minor characters. In The Crucible, several major characters get drawn towards the idea of witchcraft, when in reality they aren’t but people say they are. The community plays an enormous factor in influencing the people condemned by witchcraft.

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Judge Danforth, he was one of the judges that served on the court when the witch trials were going on and was there during the time of when Abigail had accused all the women, and he had believed her, well the who court believed her. In Act 3 Danforth said “ I judge nothing. I tell you straight, Mister—I have seen marvels in this court. I have seen people choked before my eyes by spirits; I have seen them stuck by pins and slashed by daggers. I have until this moment not the slightest reason to suspect that the children may be deceiving me.

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In this play the crucible does portrays injustice by Danforth is not following court that is ruled by religion, Abigail intimidating the court, and the accused not having proper court rights. The people back in the sixteen hundreds did use the excuse of calling someone a witch for their land. That person then would have no evidence to prove himself innocent. The court back then was people are guilty till proven innocent when our courts today are the total

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707 Words | 3 Pages

Many ask for his mercy towards the accused and he denies it to them to keep his reputation, “... Postponement now speaks floundering on my part...” (Miller 667). This shows that Danforth could have ended the hysteria in Salem by admitting that he does not believe that any of the accused are guilty and claiming the accused not

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