Danforth is the main judge of the court in Salem. He and many others are in charge of deciding if there are any witches in the village, and if any one is accused then they are put in trial. That might seem like a regular court that is fair and square, but in reality the courting system back then was ridiculous. If anyone was accused they are automatically considered a witch. If they confess to being a witch, they will have time in prison, but if they don't confess then they will be hanged.
Danforth tells many that they have nothing to fear if they are good people, but this have been shown otherwise through my understanding. Most, if not all the people that have been accused, have declared and manifested that they are not witches. Even if they deny withcraft they are never believed. Sometimes even the people present in the court pretense that they are being attacked by spirits. What really contradicts to what Danforth said is the ones accused plead innocent. "I am innocent to a witch, I know not what a witch is" (Miller,39) Martha Corey says this to Hathorne when she is being asked to testify. It doesn't matter that she denied it, she is guilty to everyone's believes in court.
This reminds me when I was in class in eight grade and a girl lost her phone. I didn't have it and everyone else claimed not to have it, but since she said she lost during class, we were forced to stay in that class until she found it. It did not matter that I didnt steal the phone, I was part of the class so I was a suspect. This also reminds me of the one time when my mother thought I took her money. I told her it wasnt me, but she didnt care! In her mind, I took it so I had to be the thief. At the end of it she found the money in her other purse but I was grounded and yellled at, and basically punished for doing something I didn't do. It was really hurtful, but I was glad my mom finally learned the truth.
This also reminds me of a case in the 1920's, where two mean were accused of murder and robbery. There names were Sacco and Vanzetti. Back in the 1920's there was a lot of prejudice against other cultures. These two mean happened to be Italian anarchists, so they were viewed as the guilty ones. They denied having taken any part of the murder but they were still sentenced, because of who they were. This is an Article that goes into more depth about it: http://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/sacvan.html
This shows us that history does repeat itself. It happened in Salem, then it happened in the 1920's and now it is happening again. It happens with racism and nativism. People make judgement about others because of their race and culture. But if you think about it, most of this prejudice acts are done because people are just trying to find someone to blame for the country's problems.
I completely agree with what you're saying. Everyone believes that whoever is accused, has to be a witch and that they can't be convinced otherwise. It doesn't matter to them if the person is innocent or not, the Country has basically turned mad. Every one is afraid of being accused, so instead of sitting and waiting for that time to come, they accuse other people in hopes of getting off the hook and becoming a "helper of God".
ReplyDeleteAlmost every one being accused is innocent, so it definately proves that what Danforth was saying about having nothing to fear, was inaccurate. The people of Salem no longer know the difference between right and wrong and good and evil. All they care about are themselves, and no one else.
That girl in your eighth grade class should learn how to not loose her phone! She was trying to blame everyone else for her mistake, and that's not fair. I'm glad that your mom found her money though! I hope you weren't still grounded after she did :)