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Power Of Lies In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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The Power of Lies
The Salem Witch Trials were a time of kill or be killed, The accusations spread throughout the town of Salem and made their way to the court. Danforth throughout the book made it obvious that his goal was to maintain the court’s authority even if it meant lying and killing innocent citizens. The lies Danforth and the men in power told were devastating because everyone knew that Abigail and the girls were lying just to save their lives and yet he and the others believed what they wanted to believe. There are strength in numbers and when abigail and the girls all acted possessed Danforth believed them. The court overlooked the truth and did what was best for their names and the reputation of the court. If Danforth and …show more content…

He ruined many lives and showed no remorse for them or their families. One of many examples of this is Giles Cory, a farmer in Salem who was crushed to death after telling the truth of not being a witch. Danforth didn’t believe him and gave him many chances to admit to the crimes but he didn’t because he was innocent . Another prime example is Danforth hanging someone as pure and innocent as Rebecca nurse because the town knew her as a holy citizen and eventually was hanged for witchcraft. “ As for Rebecca herself, the general opinion of her character was so high that to explain how anyone dared …show more content…

His status as a judge and a leader in the community would be demolished by his decisions made later on during the trials. His reputation was ruined by his tendency to accuse innocent people and his refusal to consider evidence that would have helped the case of the accused. “ Excellency, we have proof for your eyes ; God forbid you shut them to it. The girls, sir the girls are frauds” ( Miller 87) . Time after time after being given proof he disregarded it and continued his accusations on the many people found guilty. The devastating part of his case is that he believed what he wanted to believe and when given proof and evidence of innocence he pushed it to the side which made him biased to his own

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Throughout the crucible we meet many static characters, many of which are found in the court. Their beliefs cannot be changed, nor their views on witchcraft. Judge Danforth is a prime example of that; He will stop at nothing to prosecute the guilty. Not once is he swayed that their is not a witch in salem.

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It can be argued that the jury was not a proper representation of his peers. Along with other factual errors surrounding Dixon’s false conviction,

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Storytelling ignites new ideas about the world around us The power of storytelling is observed through its potential to give insight to new perspectives and ideas to its readers. The novel ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller has effectively been used as a tool used to ignite new ideas by delving into the story of 17th century Salem. In the story, readers are introduced to antagonist Abigail and her methods of abusing power to get what she wants. Other key characters include John Proctor and his quest to maintain his reputation and seek justice, as well as Danforth and his desire to restore order and power.

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Judge Danforth is responsible for the outcomes in Salem because he is arrogant, superstitious, and unwilling to listen to reason. Danforth accuses countless girls of witchcraft with no proof to support

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Another viewpoint, maybe that Judge Danforth was just trying to get the Salem witch trials to blow by quicker, but if this was true, he would´ve accepted John Proctor´s evidence showing that the girls were just playing tricks them. This would make the witch hysteria go away much quicker. Instead, he benefits himself by letting the Salem witch trials live longer. If Danforth was a good Judge he would not have acted so adamant and did his job as a judge to interpret the

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Once they saw the result of the girls naming off names at once, Reverend Hale wanted to help the girls instead of hang them for they did not cause themselves to become under the devils power. Once he saw what was to happen to the women that confess he believed that much more woman were witches especially the ones rattled off by Abigail Williams and Betty. He wanted the girls to confess to their witchcraft so that they would not be hung for their wrongdoing. He was very determined to make Elizabeth Proctur confess so that he would not witness her hanging. Once Rebecca Nurse was accused then Reverend Danforth did not want to believe the witch trials

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Other factors that could have facilitated Danforth's quick judgments was the puritan belief in Predestination, which is the belief that God already decided everyone's fates. In Danforth's puritan eyes, which can be considered a judicial scope of theocratic Salem, his quick judgments are considered part of the accuser's journey towards his predestined fate, in which case his decisions served as catalysts to the already judged accused. In terms of justice, as I mentioned before, God's Law and Men's Law are one and the same in Salem, an ideology that united with Predestination can change the meaning of a trial as the accused is receiving his "official" fate from men after God already decided for him, in which case the accused is nor being judged by a human judge but by God himself. The very idea of a theocracy creates an illusion that every judicial decision represents the already decided fate of the

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This shows that some might have thought he was a misguided judge, but knew of his political power and this. That power also affects his

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and they start to gang up and say “he sat in there for 6 days and he doesn't know” and “You sat right in court and heard the same things I did” (Rose 14). This evidence shows that just because he has his own opinion and doesn’t want to vote guilty because everyone else did, people aren’t respecting his opinion and are basically calling him stupid for his decision. And I feel like more people started to choose innocent because they took into consideration of his idea and realized they could stand up to the rest of the group since they had

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His point made others question their not guilty verdict. One man even changed his mind back to guilty. This man is obviously very knowledgeable, however he missed some key parts to the

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PRESENTATION, POWER > LIES In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, conflict arrives when a group of girls teams up with the leader Abigail Willams. Abigail Williams starts the accusation that there are witches in the town of Salem and tons of people take advantage of the situation and start accusing people of being a witch. Towards the middle of the novel, before the scene, John Proctor uses his final card to try to overpower Abigail in the court which works but then Elizabeth gets called into the courtroom for reassurance for Judge Danforth and so is being interrogated by Judge Danforth, to see if she would ever lie.

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A single mistake can wholly compromise an individual’s ability to accomplish their dreams. Hillary Clinton’s blunder in handling the United States’ confidential emails could very well have cost her the presidency. Knowing the possible consequences if the truth of the situation was released, she fabricated lies in hopes of maintaining her political power. Similarly, throughout both The Scarlet Letter, a fiction novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Arthur Miller’s historical fiction play, The Crucible, people are willing to go to great lengths in order to maintain their statuses. Transpiring in 17th century New England, The Scarlet Letter follows a woman by the name of Hester Prynne who endures unrelenting ignominy after giving birth to

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Danforth the judge of the court said ": You misunderstand, sir; I cannot pardon these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just”. Danforth explains that he understands that Abigail was listening now but he just cant the ones alive who were also accused walk free because of the fact that some many others have died because of the allegations so he has to kill them too. If Danforth did kill the rest of the people how would Salem

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He believes strongly in his ability to judge the character of the informants. This comes into play when others question his judgement of Abigail and the girls from the woods. Danforth has a great deal of authority over the verdict of the accused, he has the power to judge them as not guilty. Danforth being the primary judge means he could have admitted to his foolishness and told the community that the accused people were not witches, and it would have made the townspeople believe that there was no witch problem in Salem at all. Danforth is too concerned with his reputation to admit that his judgement, at first, was clouded.

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Danforth: Judge, Jury, and Executioner Judge Danforth’s position in the crucible is the Judge assigned to the proceedings of the Salem witch trials. Instead of treating this immense responsibility with the respect and restraint that is needed, Danforth abused his power by betraying the people of Salem and the Law. He did not listen to the people of Salem defending themselves before inevitably being sent to death; and he cared more about his reputation and the law than he did about peoples’ lives. Danforth was a ruthless power over the people of Salem he demanded respect for himself and the court; and nothing was more important than that.

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