Because of their sins, the townsfolk have guilt and blame others to free themselves of it. People call out names for the witch-hunt on behalf of God; but in reality, they blame others to avoid dealing with their guilt. These accusations make the townspeople turn on their neighbors and friends, ultimately adding to the intensity of the witch trials. In contrast to the townsfolk, Giles deals with his guilt. He asks Reverend Hale to resolve his curiosity about what his wife Martha might be reading behind his back, but instead rouses the town’s suspicion of Martha being a witch.
The realities of the world are brought to their knowledge. Now Goodman Brown and Sammy have to face the world not knowing now what life may bring. In “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne introduces Goodman Brown, a young Puritan living in Salem in the late 1600’s. He is a newly wed to his wife Faith who he leaves for a night to meet a stranger in the woods. We soon realize that the stranger is the devil and he is there so Goodman Brown will question his faith.
The Tom Robinson Trial By: Mr. Underwood How a man can live with killing a cripple, I cannot understand. It is a sin, whether the cripple is standing, sitting or escaping. Tom Robinson had unfair disadvantages, neither of them were his fault. For one, his left arm was useless. He was a colored man, accused of raping a low class white woman.
In the course of the play, one of the major characters John Proctor, goes through changes and faces multiple challenges. John Proctor is one of the local farmers, and is well known in the town. One of his hidden sins is that he committed adultery with a young girl named Abigail Williams; who was the leader of the group of girls that were pretending to be at the hands of witchcraft. John Proctor knew that he could expose Abigail as being a fraud but he was hesitant to do so because it would reveal his secret to the town. In addition, he and his wife, Elizabeth, are going through a rough time in their marriage where there’s an obvious sense of distance between them.
Background: The Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 have been studied by many historians looking for the complex social, political, and psychological determinants behind the community wide hysteria that led to the death of 20 innocent Puritans. Ergot poisoning has been put forth by some as a previously unsuspected cause of the bizarre behaviors of the young adolescent girls who accused the townsfolk of witchcraft. During the early winter of 1692 two young girls became inexplicably ill and started having fits of convulsion, screaming, and hallucinations. Unable to find any medical reason for their condition the village doctor declared that there must be supernatural forces of witchcraft at work. This began an outbreak of hysteria that would result in the arrest of over one hundred-fifty people and execution of twenty women and men.
The witches in this play in terms of ghosts are concerned, we see they are not human or half ways normal when Banquo quotes to Macbeth that are not human like as well as irregular in some sort and very unattractive. This leaves a feeling of darkness for example the sky is black and the grass is gray instead of green the branches on the tress are short and rotting. The witches were Macbeth’s fortune tellers but they lead him a bad life In the end. Ghosts and apparitions not only drove Macbeth to his grave but also gave him up. When he kills Duncan there is a sense of real guilt.
This is because many people who possess dark powers in our community tend to lack compassion and are inhumane. As a result they lure their victims into eating a charmed food or cast a spell on them that kills them gradually. The witches in Africa are especially wicked. They pick a quarrel with an individual and before the individual realizes it, he or she is caught up in a battle that outlives a generation or more. Ordinary people’s dreams and goals are sabotaged by witches who recite incantations in their covens against their victims.
Salem, Massachusetts in the late 17th century was full of hysteria about witches casting spells, spirits being conjured, and the devil influencing the townspeople. Accusations of witchcraft, for personal vengeance, hurled fellow citizens into jail for eventual execution. The greedy were taking neighbors land once their innocent blood was spilled for crimes of witchery. John Proctor disliked the court’s lack of justice, and thought that the spreaders of the lies only did it to get what they wanted. All he wanted was for fair trials to be conducted and evidence to be looked for, because he was a very just individual and when a debate of who had authority he said “we vote by name in this society, not by acreage” (1.
In the play many characters do not take responsibility for what they do see going on. As a result many lives are taken. For example, John Proctor realizes how dangerous the witchcraft accusations are when the court officials arrest his wife, Elizabeth, for witchcraft: "The little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! I ll not give my wife to vengeance!” (Miller 34). Before his wife was arrested, John really did not see that the girls weren't just telling little “white lies”.
The play opens in a scene of chaos; Betty Parris, daughter of Reverend Parris, has slipped into what is now known as a coma. When Betty does not awaken, the townspeople immediately turn to witchcraft as the reason for what is happening. Jealousy causes many of the people to accuse others of witchcraft. Debates over property lines occur; neighbors are at each others’ throats. Centering now upon John Proctor, and his wife, Elizabeth, the story takes a turn.