A Critical View of Theology in “The Crucible”
The Salem witch trials were one of the worst examples of persecution and injustice in early America. In “The Crucible”, by Arthur Miller, the Salem witch trials are acted out from the first accusation to the many hangings that would follow. There are several reasons for the witch trials. The tedium of the highly religious Puritan society caused many people to have a strong need for a form of excitement. The Puritan Church took advantage of this to punish the people who deviated from the teachings of the Church. This provided a source of excitement for the common people and helped the Church punish those that had different beliefs than what their theocracy demanded. The courts were put into a bad position by the trial. Once the Church made its verdict, they had to support it in order to validate the Church’s authority. But all of these factors are just part of a larger cause. The theocracy of Puritan Massachusetts needed to create scapegoats in order to save their society. These scapegoats were needed to entertain the bored masses, destroy new ideas that threatened their society, and to solidify the authority of the Church.
Puritan society was pretty boring. Their theocracy demanded that the only real activities they had were work and religion. This monotonous cycle caused many people to thirst for something different. The idea of witches performing their magic in Salem provided a lot of intrigue for the villagers. In this case, the scapegoats were necessary to provide some extreme entertainment to the Puritans, since their theocracy caused such a boring life. When Betty’s sickness is discovered by the town, many come to see her for reasons of entertainment. Giles Corey asks, “Is she going to fly again? I hear she flies,” (25). Giles is one of the many guests who came solely to see if Betty was really going to fly away. They think that it would be interesting to see Betty jump out the window and fly across Salem. The need for entertainment draws in many people who crave a new experience.
The thirst for entertainment causes many villagers to jump to the exciting idea that witches are in Salem. As soon as Mrs. Putnam enters Mr. Parris’ house, she exclaims, “It is a marvel. It is surely a stroke of hell upon you.” (12) Mrs. Putnam desires a grand scandal, and there is no better scandal then the minister’s daughter being accused of witchcraft. All of the people that wait downstairs are thinking the same thing. They desperately need to hear the rest of the story. They want to know whether the stories that they are hearing are true. Is their minister harboring a witch? This excitement is exactly what the bored Puritans desire. Because of their desire for a scandal, they immediately jump to witchcraft, and blindly support the accusation that follow.
The people of Salem wanted a scandal so badly that they were willing to do anything to find one. The people strongly desire evidence of witchcraft, and therefore are willing to do anything to obtain a confession. Reverend Parris does everything he can to convince Tituba to make up a confession “You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!” (44). Tituba decides to make a false confession. This confession provides the evidence they need to have a witch hunt. The people of Salem want a witch hunt so badly, that they decide to create their own witches, using any means necessary.
The influx of new ideas in Salem caused many of their old ideas to be called into question. The Church’s presence was strongly threatened by the new ideas that are developing. These new ideas had to be destroyed if the theocracy was going to survive. To destroy these new ideas, the Church decides to declare these challenges to society as witchcraft. John Proctor is one of these thinkers. The challenge he presents to the Church helped to cause imprisonment. Procter confronts Reverend Hale about whether the confessions could really be trusted, “And why not, if they must hang for denyin’ it? There are them that will swear to anything before they’ll hang; have you never thought of that?” (69). Proctor was willing to openly question the beliefs of the Church. Few people would have had the courage to stand up to the Church before the rise of these new ideas. It was ideas like this one that caused the Church to fear for its future. They were losing the blind faith of the people. John Proctor draws much attention to himself with statements like these, and these suspicions would cause his later imprisonment for witchcraft to have more support behind it.
Elizabeth also shows a lot of enlightened thinking. She would draw suspicion due to the new ideas that she holds. The independence she shows will cause some to accuse her as a witch. Elizabeth demands, “I think you must tell him, John,” while Reverend Hale is leaving (68). She challenges the authority of her husband, showing the independence that she has. It is very strange for a woman to order her husband around in this time period. She participated in the discussion with Hale and she remained central to the conversation. Her independence did draw the suspicion of Hale and others, causing Abigail’s accusation to be accepted by the court. She would pay dearly for her bold statements.
Many of the girls in Salem decide that they need some excitement in their lives. To achieve this they go into the woods and perform a traditional ritual that Tituba brought with her from Barbados. It involved brewing a potion that contained a live frog, which the girls drank afterwards. When they are discovered, it is seen by everyone as a challenge to Puritan beliefs and the girls are immediately suspected of performing witchcraft. Reverend Parris accuses Abigail of witchcraft, “I saw Tituba waving her arms over the fire when I came on you. Why was she doing that? And I heard a screeching and gibberish coming from her mouth. She were swaying like a dumb beast over that fire!” (11). Such a display causes many to say that witchcraft is responsible for Betty’s illness. Their challenge to society leads to accusations by Hale and Parris, and forces the girls to confess and then accuse other people of witchcraft in order to save themselves. Puritans are simply not ready for these radical new ideas.
The last contributor to the trials was the need for the court to support the Church in a theocracy. As soon as the first witch was accused by the Church, the court was locked into its course. To find one of the witches not guilty would have devastated Puritan society. The court would have been publicly declaring that the Church had been wrong. This would mean that God had been wrong, and stating that was simply not possible. The court had to support the Church’s decisions, if they wanted to maintain the theocracy that existed.
Proctor is one of the few who realizes the bias of the court. The court would not listen to ideas contrary to the word of the Church. He openly states that the court will not believe his wife’s defense, “I falter nothing, but I may wonder if my story will be credited in such a court. I do wonder on it, when such a steady minded minister as you will suspicion such a woman that never lied, and cannot, and the world know she cannot!” (69). Proctor believed that the court would never even listen to his argument if his wife was accused of witchcraft. He saw the heavy influence that the accusers have inside the courtroom. His later attempts to defend his wife would end in him being charged with witchcraft. The court had little choice, it could end the trials and destroy the reputation of the Church, or they could continue the trials and preserve their society.
The court shows very little prudence in whom they believe and who they charge with witchcraft. Proctor again argues against the decisions of the court. He had previously admitted to having an affair with Abigail. Mary Warren, his last hope, decides to turn on him and declare him as an agent of the devil. He exclaims, “You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore!” as he is being dragged off to the dungeon (120). The court did not even consider the history of the accusers, but blindly follows them. They turned away from what was just, and decided to do whatever was necessary to continue the trials. They refused to even hear arguments against the accusers. They had decided that the accusers were perfect and couldn’t be challenged. They couldn’t turn against the original accusers who had started the trials.
Near the end of the trials, the court was simply focusing on providing as much justification for the trials as possible. The people of Salem were beginning to question the truth behind the trials. The court had to justify the trials to solidify the position of the Church. Proctor argues with them about this need during his confession. “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!” Proctor cries out after they demand that he sign an official statement (142). Proctor doesn’t understand why they need him to sign an official statement declaring what he had admitted. The court realized that what they were doing was wrong, that they had falsely executed many people, and that they now had to justify their position. They did this by gathering as many confessions as possible and releasing them to the public. These confessions involved accusing others of witchcraft, solidifying the executions and cases that the court had already judged. If the villagers see the lack of justice that plagues the trials, then they would see that the Church had lied in the past and that would have ruined their Puritan society.
The Salem witch trials were primarily caused by the need to create scapegoats in a theocracy. The theocracy left little room for fun, causing people to look for excitement in other places, such as witch trials and scandals. This was why they were so ready to accept the accusations as true. The Church decided to back these accusations, because many of the witches were accused because they held beliefs that conflicted with those of the Church. The Church used the trials to destroy any challenges to traditional Puritan society. Finally, the court simply ruled guilty in all cases, because declaring an accused witch not guilty would mean that the Church was wrong, and the Church can’t be seen as wrong in a theocracy. The court decided to punish these scapegoats in order to provide further support for the actions of the Church. This weakness of theocracy caused many unnecessary deaths and imprisonments, as the need for scapegoats overflowed in this abomination of justice.