The Salem Witch Trials : Who Is to Blame?

The Salem Witch Trials : Who is to blame?

Desperate times and situations can cause people's actions to be governed by their own selfish motives and fears, which often results in terrible and possibly irreversible consequences. During the 1692 witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, as told in the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, selfish motives, such as revenge and respect, and fears, such as those of punishment and of the unknown, cause two very important characters to behave in such horrific ways that results with the deaths of innocent people. The actions of these two characters, Abigail Williams and Reverend Parris, are the main influences of the Salem Witch Trials, and it is because of their behaviors that ultimately results with the deaths of many innocent people.

The first character responsible for the Salem Witch Trials is Abigail Williams. She and her friends are caught dancing in the woods. As a consequence, Betty Parris, one of the friends, ends up having "fits" and hysteria. Paranoia is already high among the townspeople, and this event further causes them to believe in witchcraft. Instead of Abigail telling the truth about what really happened in the woods, she allows the townspeople to continue believing that witchcraft does exist just so she could protect herself. "Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters. […] Let either of you breathe a word […] about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you" (Miller I. 20). Here, Abigail makes sure that none of the girls in the woods confess and does this by threatening them with violence to keep them in line. She also uses their belief that Abigail knows some sort of witchcraft by threatening to put some sort of curse that will make them regret confessing. However, when John Proctor says that the townspeople suspects Betty Parris of witchcraft, Abigail simply replies by saying, "Oh, posh! […] We were dancin' in the woods last night, and my uncle leaped in on us. She took fright, is all" (I. 22). This shows that Abigail does not believe in witchcraft and only lied to the girls to keep them on check and therefore, protect herself from the townspeople. She also only lies to the townspeople that witchcraft does exist, so she could have their support and successfully be able to accuse people of witchery. These false accusations of witchery is also why Abigail is responsible for the witch trials because she is only planning on getting revenge on those who have betrayed her and does this by accusing them. For instance, she accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchery in order to get revenge on her ex-lover, John Proctor, for not taking her back after their affair. "[Elizabeth] is blackening [Abigail's] name in the village! She is telling