Essay On Who Is To Blame In The Crucible

Who is to Blame?
Danforth is the one to blame the most for the trials being successful. Although there are many to blame, it all has to come down to one person who’s behind it all. The trials were allowed to happen by him. He was the judge of the court who allowed them to succeed and be as powerful as they had become. If he wouldn’t have believed every single accusation and not let the trails get to the point of hanging the accused, they wouldn’t have gotten many attention to the point that they became very successful and popular. Danforth is more to blame than Abigail because he denied truth/fact, allowed her and the girls to have power, and never listened to anyone and only cared about expanding his power.
Danforth never listened to any

truth/facts given to him. All he cared for is the court to be powerful and continue executing people for show. He cared about his reputation more than anything. He is very ignorant and greedy with a very strong ego. When Parris told him that Abigail ran away and stole all his money, he replies with, “I will send a party for them. Where may they be?” and also, “Mr. Parris, you are a brainless man!” (Miller 126). These two quotes just show how much he doesn’t care about anyone or anything but Abigail. No matter what, he still sided with her. He believed her to still be innocent no matter what. When John Proctor, Giles Corey, and Francis Nurse, tried to defend their wives, Danforth and Parris accused them of trying to overthrow the court. Parris says, “He’s come to overthrow this court, your honor!” (Miller 92). Danforth clearly agreed that they were trying to overthrow the court. He believed nobody but Abigail and the girls. He would believe every word that came out of their mouths. He would never think Abigail and the girls would lie.
Danforth allowed Abigail and the girls to have power.

They could accuse anybody without any proof and he would believe it all. He treats her as if she’s a saint that’s always truthful. He thinks Abigail is innocent and that her and the girls would never lie. He dominates everyone that enters the courtroom except Abigail. When Abigail started yelling of a cold wind and accusing Mary of bewitching them, Danforth believed Abigail and started questioning Mary. He didn’t believe Mary, but believed Abigail. Danforth questioned her, “Mary Warren, do you witch her? I say to you, do you send your spirit out? (Miller 109). The tone he was asking her questions in sounded as if he was siding with Abigail and was trying to push Mary into confessing to the ‘cold wind’. He loves Abigail and would never accuse such a beautiful, innocent looking girl. When John Proctor announced that he had an affair with Abigail, Danforth refused to believe that she would do such a thing. When asked by Danforth if it’s true, Abigail threatens, “If I must answer that, I will leave and I will not come back again!” (Miller 111). So he took her words over Proctor’s and decided to believe her. Danforth basically let Abigail be in complete control of the court and never believed anybody but her. She’s still not the one to blame, it’s Danforth. He’s too biased and arrogant and let her be in control of everything. He let her brainwash him into her ‘innocence’ and believe all her

nonsense.
Danforth only wanted to expand his power and the church’s power.

If anybody dared to speak against him or the court, he would quickly accuse them of trying to overthrow the court, just like when John Proctor, Francis Nurse, and Giles Corey tried to defend their wives.Parris says, “He’s come to overthrow this court, your honor!” (Miller 92). In which Danforth agreed with. He refused to care about anything else but the attention. He believed any wrongdoing is punishable and he doesn’t care if he has been mistaken. He’s very shallow and not a forgiving man. He’s one of the very respected people by the court. He’s a man in his 60’s, very experienced, and has been a judge for decades. Everyone respects him in fear that they would be accused or executed. He did everything for show and only cared that the village is expecting to see people die the next morning. He only did not want to disappoint and angry them, so he continued with the hangings just for the sake of him and his court’s reputation. “Twelve are already executed; the names of these seven are given out, and the village expects to see them die this morning” (Miller 129). He was just worried for the village’s expectations and didn’t want to let them down. He loved when people came to the hangings to watch and cheer. It’s all attention him and his court is getting. He didn’t care if he was wrong for executing innocent people who were accused for nothing. He never felt guilty that some of those people lost their lives for

nothing but a stupid accusation.
I believe Danforth is more to blame than Abigail because he’s the one who chose to believe her. He was too ignorant to all the truth and fact handed to him, never believed them, and proceeded on with the trials. He was very conceited and only cared about the attention, power, and reputation of himself and the court. It’s not Abigail’s fault that Danforth and everyone decided to believe everything her and the girls said just because they were young and ‘innocent.’ Danforth is a judge so he could’ve stopped the trials, but he didn’t. He let them get as powerful as they did. He could’ve got everyone to calm down and stop panicking. After all, I believe that he’s the reason that the trials got very powerful and causing so many deaths.