During the Salem witch trials, in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693, more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft, and more than half were executed. These accused citizens would be placed on trial with a judge and they would either plead guilty or face a series of tests to prove they weren’t witches. In the novel, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller a group of young teenage girls are caught in the act of witchcraft and are used to help seek out the following witches in the village. They become the jury of the court and their judge who is brought in to accuse and place the victims on trial is Judge Thomas Danforth. Danforth, however, is not an effective judge for the fact that he was very closed minded, and only cared about …show more content…
It is a necessity to possess this characteristic. This characteristic not only shows how you understand your job and how to help bring criminals to justice, but simply to show that you are not conceited and that you truly care about the case and the people affiliated. Thomas Danforth however, only cares about himself and his own reputation. We can see this in the play when he shows that he doesn’t mind convicting anyone to participating in witchcraft. He wants to show the villagers and other towns that he “can and did” put an end to the Salem witch trials. Hanging all of these victims will cause attention to him, and cause people to believe that he should he honored for saving Salem.
In conclusion to reading The Crucible, through Act 3, we learn that Danforth has his own ways of doing his job. To the extent of not being fair, law-abiding, and being indifferent to what the people have to say. The qualities that he lacks to demonstrate shows that he is not an effective judge by any means. Judges must possess these characteristics to be effective because they need to have the to make sure every person has a fair trial in the eyes of the law. Danforth was biased and all through Act 3 we can see that he is ineffective by not be law-abiding, far, or willing to listen to the