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Judge Danforth's Deaths In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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A big question has been lingering in the air for quite sometime as to who is responsible for all the deaths from the the book called The Crucible, which took place during the Salem Witch Trials back in 1692. The many deaths in the Salem witch trials was the fault of many people but the ultimate responsibility for the deaths of the innocent Puritans is borne by Judge Danforth because according to his rules of the court, if anyone was accused of being a witch and denied you would be hung, also because of his ignorance, he allowed abigail and the other girls to have the power of anyone in the village killed, and he was very reluctant to listen to the opinions of anyone other than the girls on the matter of the Salem Witch Trials. According to …show more content…

Throughout the story, Danforth allowed the character Abigail Williams and the other girls in the story to have the power to have anyone in the village killed. Abigail was searching for revenge to several people throughout the story. This alone resulted in several deaths because people got killed if Abigail blamed a character that she didn’t like of witchcraft. Abigail and the other girls in this story have caused the death of more than 20 people because of Danforth’s ignorance. In The Crucible, Danforth stated, “I have until this moment not the slightest reason to suspect that the children may be deceiving me.” (Miller, pg. …show more content…

This is because he is trying to protect the court’s reputation because the court will look foolish if it was discovered that the girls have been lying all along. He believed false evidence which is why the salem witch trials were allowed to continue. This costed many lives. In The Crucible, Mary Warren stated, “Never, never.” The girls then said, “Never, never.” Danforth: “why can the only repeat you?” (Miller, pg. 1258-1358). Irony is evident in this scene because Danforth is committed to preserving truth, yet he will not acknowledge truth when he hears it. Proctor, who has spent seven months concealing his affair with Abigail, now tells the truth but is disbelieved. And Elizabeth, who has lived by the truth, lies to keep her husband's secret and condemns them both by doing so. And Mary Warren, who had lied and now is finally telling the truth, lies again to save her life. The only winner here is the chief liar, Abigail Williams, who continues to lie. And the court, which should be an instrument of truth, is in the position of condemning those who tell the truth and believing

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