Perhaps murder was the only way to see the truth in Salem, or perhaps it didn’t prove anything until it was too late. Perhaps the townsfolk were too unintelligent to see the truth, or perhaps they let their pride and reputations get in the way of the truth. People let themselves get controlled by their reputation, which explains Danforth and Abigail perfectly. Judge Danforth and Abigail Williams have an extremely high statues in their town, Salum, in The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. However, they achieve, distribute, and maintain it in similarly ways, but yet still seem so different.
Abigail Williams is a Reverend's daughter and Judge Danforth is as he claims. Their reputations are all they truly have, and both induce fear to maintain it. In the beginning of the play Abigail confesses to dancing naked, and to being out, yet not to witchcraft, and blames it on Tituba. She then tells Mary about what happened, and threatens her life to keep her secret. Danforth, in the beginning of Act III, makes sure Proctor, Hales, and Giles know what his reputation is allowing him to do. He threatens them,
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Where Danforth cares for others, and wants them all to confess yet refuses to let them live in truth, but he can’t give up his reputation. In Act I, Abigail confesses to being with the Devil and then begins to list off names of women in the village who are witches to prove to the others that she has seen the Devil and whom he conspires with. She also confesses to John Proctor of how she loves him, which is a result of their secret love affair, yet leaves him to die at the end of the play by leaving town. Danforth tries to convince Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, and John Proctor to confess to save their lives, but refuse, saying they want their name to be saved. Danforth knows how his word would help the court,but he demands for legal proof, to save his