Examples Of Justice In The Crucible

Imagine you have just been accused of witchcraft, a crime punishable by death, that you did not commit. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, he writes about the Salem witch trials. Though it is based on a true story, the play is fictional, with fictional characters. The main characters include John Proctor, Abigail Williams, John Hale, Judge Danforth, and Reverend Parris. In the Puritanical town of Salem, people live by the Bible. Everything is calm, when all of a sudden, accusations of witchcraft from Abigail start being thrown out, despite the fact that she is the one practicing it. The whole town becomes swept up in a hysteria and a witch hunt, leading to dozens of innocent people's jailings and deaths. In the play, emotions take control

In Miller’s play, the justice system is not fair. Judge Danforth is an egotistical being, who abuses his power to feel better about himself. When Francis Nurse attempts to plead with Judge Danforth to convince him that his wife is an innocent woman, Danforth uses fear to try to intimidate Francis. He brags that up to four hundred people have been thrown in jail because of him, and that, “seventy-two condemned to hang by that signature.” (Miller 81). Because Danforth is a judge, he is seen as a powerful being, with implied respect from others, as well as implied power. When he signs people off to be jailed and killed, no one dares to question him. He is responsible for the hangings that occurred in Salem. If he had never abused his power and set over three hundred people to be hanged, the officials of the town would have never hung a soul. In fact, Danforth is responsible for the people who were hanged lives’. Going back to act one, when Hale was just beginning to inspect Betty, he announces that, “if the Devil is in her you will witness some frightful wonders in this room, so please to keep your wits about you.” (Miller 38). In this situation, Reverend Hale is seen as an expert, who has power. He is viewed as an expert in the spiritual world, and because of this, everything that Hale says, people will believe. He makes many claims that startle the people of Salem, and starts a mass hysteria. The hysteria caused immense trepidation in the community, and caused the actions of throwing innocent people in jail, even hanging some. Hale, an expert with implied power, is responsible for these actions of the group. He is the one who caused the hysteria by spreading lies, which he thought was his expertise. This ultimately led to the unfair trials and unjust hangings. All in all, people with power, whether implied or given, are responsible for the actions of groups in The