Salem Witch Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Imagine being innocent, but no one will listen to you. Instead, everyone goes to a group of teenage girls for the answer. They are the deciding factor on whether you’ll be set free or sent to the gallows. Imagine the judge of your trial being so powerful that no one will stand up to him even when they know he’s wrong. That’s what it was like during the Salem witch trials. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, we see how unfair these trials were, and how much power someone can have when people are afraid. This play was based on true events, and all throughout history we see events like this. Even in modern day society, leaders like Kim Jong Un have been so empowered in their dictatorships that they can do anything, this leads to the situation

Everything they say is trusted, and everyone they accuse is tried. The Girls accuse many of the women in town and are not even questioned, “‘I saw Alice Barrow with the devil! ‘Let the marshal Bring Irons!’ ‘I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil!’ ‘I saw Goody Bibber with the Devil!’ ‘I saw Goody Booth with the Devil!’” (Miller 48). In this quote, how much power the girls have is very visible. They are going back and forth, listing off names of people who would never be thought of as a witch, and everyone trusts what they are saying. The girls can list off anyone from the town and that person will be tried without question. In addition, when Mary Warren and Proctor are talking after Elizabeth was arrested, He is telling her that they need to go to court to prove all of this is a hoax but Mary Warren is too afraid of Abigail to do whats right. “‘I cannot charge murder on Abigail.’ ‘You will tell the court how that poppet came here and who stuck the needle in’ ‘She’ll kill me for saying that!’” (Miller 80). This quote shows how much power Abigail holds over the other girls. Mary Warren is afraid of doing what she knows is right because she is so scared of what Abigail will do to her. She is so afraid that Abigail will murder her, so she rather let Elizabeth die than tell the truth. Lastly, When Proctor and Mary Warren go to the court, they go to prove that the girls were lying. Just when they begin to convince the judges, the girls start making accusations of witchcraft and Mary turns against proctor. “My name, He wants my name. ‘I’ll murder you,’ he says ‘if my wife hangs! We must go and overthrow the court,’ he says!” (Miller 119). This quote is very crucial to the empowerment theme for many reasons. First, it shows how much power the girls have over Mary because she becomes so afraid of them, so she turns against Proctor and lies again.