Crucible 7: 98-113

1) Hale: "I cannot say he is an honest man; I know him little. But in all justice, sir, a claim so weighty cannot be argued by a farmer. In God's name, sir, stop here; send him home and let him come again with a lawyer–" (99).

This quote is Hale once again trying to stand up to Danforth. Hale now seems like a much more reasonable character. He realizes what grave thing he has done. He now knows that he convicted many innocent people to trial in a court that he is beginning to see is incompetent. He at first trusted the judgment of the court and even ensured Proctor that, if Elizabeth was truly innocent, then the court will set her free. He now is very regretful because he no longer thinks that the court will come to the right decisions. He is trying to save Proctor from making a big mistake, and he is trying to relieve himself of some of his guilt by at least saving Proctor. He cannot take back his actions because then even he will be suspected. He feels terrible because he put the lives of many innocent people in the hands of an unjust court.

Will Hale be able to help Proctor and Elizabeth, so he can save at least two of the innocent people he convicted?

2) Mary Warren: "I–I cannot tell how, but I did. I–I heard the other girls screaming, and you, Your Honor, you seemed to believe them, and I– It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits, and I–I promise you, Mr. Danforth, I only thought I saw them but I did not" (107).

This quote is Mary Warren defending her claim that she never actually saw any spirits. She explains that the influence of others around her affected how she behaved. This explains how witch hysteria is like a disease in Salem. It is spreading like wildfire, and only because of a small group of girls influencing the whole town. All of the citizens are peer-pressuring each other into this madness, because if one person looks like they do not believe in witches, they will stand out from the crowd and be accused. This draws all the people together in one long chain of accusation against the very few people who refuse to lie to just save themselves.

Mary Warren seems to be telling the truth, but the only problem is that Abigail makes a much more convincing argument to Danforth. Abigail is much more confident, and does not stutter like Mary. Abigail also has the power of her other friends to help her too. They will go along with anything she says because she threatens to kill them if they do not.

Will Danforth see through Abigail's lies, and believe innocent Mary even though she looks far guiltier than Abigail?