Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.” If you allow corrupt activity to remain, you’re just as guilty as those causing it. This testament rings true in the plot of The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. Innocent civilians were being hanged, and the very people convicting them knew they were innocent. For that reason, Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris and the court are most responsible for the witchcraft hysteria in the Salem village.
Abigail was more than aware that nobody was being witched in Salem. However, the rumors of witchcraft seem to be the only explanation for the girls strange behavior that took place in the woods the previous night.
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Parris remains silent until he receives a threat from the townspeople. He comes to the court exclaiming that “a dagger clattered to the ground” when he opened his door to leave (200). Parris is trying to convince the court to no longer hang the innocent people, because he is in fear of his own personal safety. Now that there has been a threat, the court fears that the town will riot if John Proctor and others are hanged. The court begs John’s wife, “Will you plea his confession?” (202). The only way to prevent uprising in the village was to get John Proctor to confess to witchcraft so he would not be forced to hang. Although the court knows all of this is fraud, they must continue hanging innocent people because of the twelve that were already killed.
On the other hand, some may argue that the townspeople could have just confessed, and nobody would’ve had to die. This argument is proven invalid considering the Puritan church damned all liars. Therefore, if an individual were to lie and confess he would be damned to hell. Overall, if one is to observe and allow evil to occur, that person is as guilty as those causing the commotion. For that reason, it’s clear to see that Abigail, Parris, and the court are the most responsible for the ongoing witchcraft accusations in