The Crucible– Secondary Sources Assignment Thesis: The Absolutism found in the society in The Crucible was the direct cause for the false witch hunt found in the play. Argument 1: The court’s inability to stray from the absolute principles that they hold regarding theology and ethics leads to many innocent women being put to death. Ex. Primary Source 1 “Now hear me, and beguile yourselves no more. I will not receive a single plea for pardon or postponement. Them that will not confess will hang. Twelve are already executed; the names of these seven are given out, and the village expects to see them die this morning. Postponement now speaks a floundering on my part; reprieve or pardon must cast doubt upon the guilt of them that died till now. …show more content…
In this scene, as E. Budick and James Douglas have also argued, the moral absolutism of the prosecution causes it to become the ally of the devil rather than his opponent.” Argument 2: The town of Salem putting all trust in faith, rather than reason, results in the false convictions of dozens of women of witchcraft. Ex. Primary Source 2 “I pray you, Mr. Parris. Do you know, Mr. Proctor, that the entire contention of the state in these trials is that the voice of Heaven is speaking through the children?”(Miller, 88) Ex. Secondary Source 2 “In the play, the Salem authorities call in a specialist in witchcraft, the Rev. John Hale (John Benjamin Hickey). He arrives struggling with a half dozen heavy books, "weighed with authority. Here is all the invisible world, caught, defined and calculated." His absolute views resonate in light of what is unfolding now in the numerous cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic priesthood. While trying to get Tituba, the black servant, to confess, he assures her: "We will protect you. The Devil can never overcome a minister." This comment drew more than a few