Who Is To Blame For The Salem Witch Trials Of 1692

“When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow” (Anais Nin). Religion is a powerful factor that influences the behavior of many individuals. This is especially seen within the Puritan town of Salem, MA, in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. The play takes place during the lunatic time of the Salem witch trials in 1692. Many people were often accused and killed during this time for being a witch or practicing witchcraft which led to hysteria in the town of Salem. Religion is to blame for the existence of the Salem witch trials of 1692 in The Crucible because it caused people to lie and be gullible. Religion is responsible for the Salem witch trials of 1692 for the reason that

Some may argue that Rebecca Nurse was not credulous enough to believe that the girls were asleep because of witchcraft and could speculate they were just pretending when she estimates, “I think she’ll wake when she tires of it” (Act 1, Line 557-558). While Rebecca Nurse was perceptive enough to know the girls were pretending, Ann Putnam was still able to get the irrational court to believe that Rebecca Nurse killed her babies by using witchcraft. The girls were able to deceive the court into thinking Mary Warren was using witchcraft upon them when Mercy Lewis asks, “Mary why do you send this shadow on me” (Act 3, Line 80). The young single girls convinced Deputy Governor Danforth, head of the court, that Mary Warren is a witch by pretending Mary was casting her shadow upon them. By manipulating the puritan's beliefs to their favor the girls pretended as if Mary was casting her shadow upon them to make her seem like a witch. Additionally, Martha Corey, Giles Corey’s wife, was also accused of witchcraft when Giles explains “Now he goes to court and claims that from that day to this he can not keep a pig alive for more than four weeks because my Martha bewitched them with her books.” (Act 2, Line 171-173). Martha Corey was accused of witchcraft when a man’s pigs that he bought from Martha died. The man’s pigs died because he did not feed them, however the Puritan’s religious thinking lead to them being so irrational that the man simply persuaded the court to get Martha arrested. Many Puritans were so naive due to their religious beliefs that others took advantage of their foolishness and used it to their own benefit during the Salem witch trials of