Fear Alter Choices In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

How can fear alter the choices people make? In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a town called Salem is thought to be filled with witches.The suspicion started when a group of girls were caught dancing in the woods, and a few mysteriously became sick. After the townsfolk became hysterical and accused each other of performing witchcraft, which was punishable by death if they did not confess. Fear and self-interest caused characters to betray fellow citizens in order to preserve their own lives.

First, Abigail feared for her reputation, and did anything she could to hide her sins. When being interrogated about what the girls did in the forest, Abigail exclaimed, “She made me do it!...She makes me drink blood!” (Miller, 156). Abigail is referring

When asked if she saw anyone else working for the devil, Tituba stated, “I look--and there was Goody Good...and Goody Osburn” (Miller, 158). Tituba did not really see those two; however, she had to say something in order to save herself. If she did not cooperate and confess to witchcraft, she would have been killed. By accusing others of being witches, she is taking some of the blame off of herself and pushing it onto others. Tituba did all of this because she feared for her life. Secondly, after Mary Warren was accused of witchcraft, she said “My name, he want my name...’We must go and overthrow the court,’ he says!’” (Miller, 194). Mary was just accused of witchcraft by Abigail, and could be the death of her if she did not confess. This was Mary’s way of confessing; she accused John of working with the devil and forcing her to come to court, which would put the blame for Mary conjuring a familiar onto John. Now Mary would be seen as a victim of witchcraft, and John as an evil man who works with the devil. Out of fear for her own life, Mary took the blame off of herself by claiming that John is working for the devil. Although much of the fear came from being accused of witchcraft, it was not the only

When Giles and Francis came to the court claiming to have hard evidence, Danforth said, “Then let him submit his evidence in proper affidavit. You are certainly aware of our procedure here” (Miller, 178). This would have been okay if he didn’t contradict himself later. When John came to the courthouse and presented a written deposition, Danforth refused to accept it. Danforth was afraid that the court could be wrong about the witch trials, and kept changing the procedure that he followed to keep the truth hidden. In order to keep the court, which he is the head of, seen as just, he refused to accept evidence of any kind. Later in the play, when Hale told Danforth that he must pardon the accused, Danforth says, “You misunderstand, sir; I cannot pardon these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just” (Miller, 200). Danforth now knows that the accused are most likely not witches, but still decided to hang them. He did this because he feared that if the townsfolk thought that the others were unjustly killed, they may riot like those in Andover, and possibly kill him in retaliation. He also would no longer be seen as a respectable judge. Instead of saving the lives of innocent people, Danforth chose to kill them to preserve the court’s reputation, his reputation, and possibly his own