Deputy Governor Danforth Character Analysis

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Dep. Gov. Danforth Dep. Gov. Danforth was one of two judges who traveled to Salem Massachusetts from Boston Massachusetts for the witchcraft trials. Danforth was a man in his later years and was looked at as powerful and authoritative. He was an intimidating man and others feared him, which made him angry because he believed he and Judge Hathorne were guided by God. To Danforth, nobody should fear the court unless guilty because innocent individuals have nothing to hide. Danforth shows Salem his authority by wrongly convicting citizens, controlling the court, and enforcing society’s laws. In the play The Crucible, Danforth is considered to be a minor character due to his help in the exposer of the main characters personalities throughout the court room. Also, he is very straight forward and has a static character, which matches his composure due to his belief of being aided by God himself within the court. Some may consider the conflict to be external conflict, or man verses supernatural conflict, in the story because it displays the conflict between the citizens and the Devil, but there is evidence that suggests otherwise. Danforth is a very ethical man, and believes he is very truthful and only convicts those who have done wrong. Which shows the true conflict, man verses himself, because every citizen is fighting himself to save those he loves from being hanged or themselves. During the witch trials, Danforth was the minor character who directly leads John Proctor, the protagonist, right up to the climax. The climax of the story was when John confessed to committing adultery with Abigail Williams, the antagonist, against his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. Danforth also played a key role in helping define and defend the boundaries of society and the rules that people lived under. In other words, he was ensuring that corruption was eliminated within the town. He also
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