Pros And Cons In The Crucible

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Recommended: Witchcraft in the sixteenth century

Witchcraft burned tens of thousands of people in the Middle Ages. Just in Salem, Massachusetts, the citizens accused over one hundred and fifty people of witchcraft. As a result of these accusations, the court hanged twenty of these supposed witches. How much evidence was there to convict the supposed witches? Not enough to select death as the punishment. However, the court sentenced the accused to be hanged if they did not confess which causes another problem: why hang when one could confess to a lie and live? Indeed, the court system broke down during these witch trials. Due to adolescents not seeing the consequences of their actions, they have the astonishing power to be persuasive and deceiving. Abigail Williams (Abby) shows this …show more content…

In simpler terms, either accept the plea deal, or die. The majority of people would confess to witchcraft, even if it has been a false confession, just to be able to live. I know I would, and so did others in my class. In The Crucible, Proctor, who is accused of witchcraft, says, "I want my life... I will have my lie" (Miller). He says right there that he is willing to lie to save his own life and live in jail for confessing to a lie just so he was not hanged. However, Proctor then changes his mind and says, "Pray God it speak some goodness for me. Give them no tear. Show them a heart of stone and sink them with it" (Miller). He came to the conclusion that being a witch is not what he wants to be remembered by, since it is a lie. He then says he thinks those who falsely confessed should have a consequence for doing so. However, the court did not even look into if the confessed were lying; they just trusted them, which is something a court should not do. An example where one accepted a plea deal instead of the death penalty is in James Troutman’s case. He confessed to murdering, raping, and brutalizing the body after he killed a nine year old girl. For his actions he deserves to be given the death penalty, but for some reason the court offered him a plea deal to plead guilty and serve life in prison without parole. Even when the convicted

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