The Actions of Judge Danforth in The Crucible Essay

His genuinely concern for Salem and his desire to save the town is what makes him a respected judge. Most government leaders want to help their communities or countries which was what Danforth and McCarthy set out to do. Danforth was an effective government leader, as he states he has been a judge for 23 years, he wouldn't have been a judge for so long if people had thought he was inadequate. Just like McCarthy wanted to rid America of communism, Judge Danforth wanted to rid Salem of the devil. Danforth truly believes that he is guided by God and for that reason he cannot falsely accuse someone. This will lead him to never question himself. In The Crucible Act III Danforth says, “I judge nothing… I have seen marvels in this court. I have seen people choked before my eyes by spirits; I have seen them stuck by pins and slashed by daggers. I have until this moment not the slightest reason to suspect that the children may be deceiving me.” This quote is showing that Danforth really thought the girls were being truthful, he thought what he was seeing was real and therefore he wasn't trying to wrongfully convict anyone. Danforth had come to Salem to help the community and had no other objective just as McCarthy had when he started trying to clear America of

Danforth’s duty as a judge forces him to deviate from his moral convictions which ultimately defines his character as being confused and conflicted.

Since Danforth only condemns based on how much devilish act comes from someone and not based on hard evidence, he is not serving justice. When confronted with the problem of why he trusts the accusers and not the accused, he simply says that a witch would not admit to it, so he “must rely upon her victims.” A guilty person would want to lie and say that they didn’t do anything wrong, but that doesn’t mean the accuser wouldn’t lie either. Danforth fails to see this, even when Proctor points out that “common vengeance writes the law.” There is motivation to lie and bring people to death because of common grudges, but this can’t be

In Salem, they believe that whatever God’s will is, they will do it, and Danforth declares that everything he does is God’s will. Judge Hathorne and himself find that you should have no reason to fear the court, unless you are guilty. Danforth stated that, “A person is either with this court or he must be counted against it” (___) which gives the impression that he sees everything in black and white, and that there is no right way but his way. With so much power that he finds from God, he doesn’t examine evidence properly or use his power to calm the hysteria. Correspondingly, Danforth continues to hang people who are innocent, near the end he starts to realize what he has done with this excessive power given to him by God. With this realization, he says that, “I cannot pardon these when twelve have already hanged from the same crime. It is not just.” (____) He starts to realize that what he did was unjust but refuses to back down from what he started. The ignorance Danforth has continues to kill people just so that the others that have died wouldn’t be alone in this awful situation. The power he has rotted his brain, and left him a trail of corpses behind

Danforth had a lot of opportunities to stop it, for example when the adults in the town were telling him that they were not witches and some of the other town people spoke against the hanging, he ignorants them and keep on believing in the childrens instead of the adults. In Act 3 when John Proctor and Giles Corey present a list of people who has signed petition to stated that the people who's being accused of being a witch is not a witch, he was only worry about keeping Proctor and Corey in check. Danforth say that, “ A person is either with the court or he must be counted against it, there no road between,’’ this clearly states that he only care about the court and his reputation, not the people. In Act three of the play, he did not believe when John Proctor told him that him and Abigail will has an affair so he decided call Elizabeth to make sure that John Proctor was telling the truth, he shouldn’t have to hear about the affair from Elizabeth because why would a good and respected man wants to ruined his reputation and he should have knew that Elizabeth would lie to protect her

As trials are being conducted in the Salem meeting house, John Proctor enters, bringing Mary Warren and a testament of ninety-one townspeople to claim the innocence of those convicted of witchcraft. Danforth questions Proctor’s intentions. He fears that his purpose is to undermine the court. He shares his concern, explaining, “A person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there is no road between.” (Miller 87). Danforth’s strong will and great faith in the court result in an ignorance that prevents him from being open minded to any other possibility. He does not believe that one can disagree with the court without seeking to overthrow it. Danforth’s use of fallacy of the false alternative forces the people of Salem to unquestionably agree with the rulings and executions conducted by the court. For if they don’t, they will risk being accused of seeking to overthrow the court. Moreover, Miller’s use of the device points out others’ ignorance towards the complexity of the situation, displaying how they only view the problem as a black or white matter. The use of this device contributes to the plot by revealing that things aren’t always as they seem. By forcing others to choose from only two options, it also creates an inner conflict of believing in what one holds to be true in their heart or what is

One way Danforth presents that theme is by his need of law and order. Rather than considering the value of human life and the disastrous consequences that his actions will have on the families that will lose their loved ones thanks to the witch trials, Danforth simply decides to deny pardoning the rest of the other accused people of witchcraft because of his need of having law and order. In fact, Danforth even says "I cannot pardon these when twelve [already hang] for the same crime"(Miller 119), shows Danforth refusing to pardon the rest of the others accused of witchcraft based on the previous precedence of the other accused of witchcraft who do not confess must hang to death. Consequently, Danforth's need of having law and order leads to a lot of people in Salem losing their loved ones, which could have been avoidable had Danforth had not put his need of law and order before others people's lives in society. Another way that Danforth displays this theme is his need of being right about his decisions. Basically, Danforth shows that by not accepting Parris's request of postponing the executions and Hale's request of pardoning the rest of the accused witchcraft people still alive. Danforth could have listened to Parris and Hale's request, but he decides not to because that would make his previous hanging decisions wrong as hanging

However; the overwhelming pressure from Abigail Williams and the other girls lead him to a confusing and risky path to lose control of the town with the unbelievable amounts of prosecutions.This affects him because he is in Salem to do the right thing. However; from trying to do so he doesn’t really know what to base his judgments with the prosecutions. By listening to either the overly dramatic girl’s and their pretense or the helpless towns people who have no evidence which can protect them. His situation is way different from Proctor’s. People’s lives are at sake and at the end of the day it’s his last decision whether or not people will be hanged. His name is important which shows the authority in the town. Act 4, pg. 1324 Danforth – “postponement speaks a floundering on my

The first reason why the authorities might be so resistant to believing the claims is because people have already been hanged for accusations the girls have given. Danforth said this himself in act four of the play, "… twelve are already executed." When he says this he means he has already hung twelve people under the influence of the girls. He doesn’t want people to believe they were falsley accused. Danforth also says "Postponement now speaks floundering on my part." He means if he takes back his trust in the girls' accusations, people will think he is faulty and might not want him in a position of power.

Danforth is another powerful character throughout The Crucible. He was not a very honored man after what happened with the trials. He is the judge who is sentencing people when they are accused of being a part of the devil even if they are completely innocent. He was the so called “main” judge of the court, using his position to gain his power. He was one of many trying to get to the bottom of all the witchcraft and who was using it. Some people saying that it was the devil doing the work, not themselves. Judge Danforth knew some people were innocent but still chose to go with it, wanting more power. Again John Proctor was not guilty but Judge Danforth still sentenced him to his death. John Proctor just didn’t want his name ruined, it hanging in the town where everyone could see it. Him wanting it to look like he was being good at what he was doing, doing the right thing. Mr. Danforth seemed like a man who wanted to please, please people. He believed everything those girls were saying and they were fooling everyone. Having people killed pleased those girls, which he did. He accused plenty of people who were innocent. The families and friends of the ones killed were unhappy and sad about what was

Danforth reflects Senator McCarthy’s way of invoking fear to ensure the principles of the government are upheld. He is motivated to preserve his and the theocratic system’s reputation, which allows hysteria to exacerbate as he becomes blind to the deception around him, “a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road in between”. Danforth uses a dichotomy to explain the theocracy of Salem to Francis, underlining how his absolutist attitude leaves no room for him to see sense. Upon discovering the truth, he cannot accept it as he fears he will lose his reputation if society doubts the abilities of the government, “Postponement now speaks a floundering on my part; reprieve or pardon must cast doubt upon the guilt of them that died till now.” When Hale and Parris attempt to convince Danforth to postpone the hangings of those who will not confess, he refuses with high modality, accentuating the hold his motivation has on him.

Due to Danforth’s unjust mindset, those sided with the court take advantage of their favoritism with Danforth and use it to seek revenge on those of whom they have previously disputed with. When Francis’ defense is torn apart by Danforth’s unruly judgment, Reverend Parris, from whom Francis had gone from and created a faction, denounces Frances’ case stating it “a clear attack upon the court” (94). This misconduct brings to light the umbrage of which Parris feels towards Francis leading to the further fall out of the court’s social order. As the various stratum of Salem clash, the prosecuted, having been given the disadvantage in Danforth’s perspective as being sided with the Devil, are infuriated by the unfairness of the court. When Proctor and Hale condemn Danforth of his proceedings, it becomes evident that Danforth’s unequal judgment has led him to his own demise as he has lost the faith of the people. These acts of corruption further poison the court as a direct result of Danforth’s ignorant

Danforth believes strongly in the witchcraft idea and sentences many people to be hanged. He believes everything Abigail and the girls tell him. He doesn’t believe anyone who says they are innocent and sentences anyone who pleads not guilty to death. Danforth realizes close to the end of the story that maybe the witchcraft accusations aren’t completely true. He starts changing the way he acts when this happens and starts listening to the accused more instead of just the girls. He also gets angry more easily and yells at Parris, “Mr. Parris you are a brainless man!” (1100). Danforth yells this at Parris after Abigail and Mercy Lewis steal Parris’s money and leave town on a ship. This confirms that the girls are lying but Danforth doesn’t want to admit it so he directs his anger toward Parris. Even after the girls leave town and he knows that the witchcraft stories didn't actually happen, Danforth thinks that if he changes his mind after he sentenced all those people to death, the whole community would think less of him. This leads him to hang John Proctor and two other women even after he knows of the girls’ lies just so he could retain his good

Judge Danforth is known as a very focused judge who tries to make the right decisions and does not back down from them. Eventually, he realizes that innocent people are being hanged because of his bad judgment. He knows Abigail Williams is putting on a show: "I will tell you this- you are either lying now, or you were lying in court, and in either case you have committed perjury and you will go to jail for it." (Miller 1084). Unfortunately, he has sentenced too many people before realizing and would show he killed innocent people, if he backs down. He could not do anything to gain his respect back. He would be questioned for his past decisions, and he would lose his job. This is why Judge Danforth will not give up his good name.

“Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for these, weeps for corruption” [Miller 134]. Sadly, the previous quote from the play, The Crucible, was a common fate for people who were accused of witchcraft if they did not confess. This fictional theater tragedy, written by Arthur Miller, is about the past Puritan society staged in the settlement of Salem, in which superstition and religion intertwine with law to make the ultimate societal poison. If seen doing something questionable, citizens were accused of witchcraft. If bad blood stirs between two people, one might accuse the other of witchcraft. If a person was accused of witchcraft, they might use someone else as a scapegoat. If these people don’t confess to their accusations, they hang. In this play, the characters that exhibit the use of reason and logic to combat the fear and paranoia ultimately end up accused and prosecuted by the Puritan society. Various examples of this occurring happen throughout the tragedy, and various examples will be illustrated and evaluated, starting with a character called John Proctor.