Crucible 6: 83-98

1) Giles: “My proof is there! If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property—that’s law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a piece. This man is killing his neighbors for their land!” (96).

            This quote from Giles is a daring accusation of Putnam. Giles thinks that Putnam is hoping his neighbors will be hanged just so he can buy their land. The court was trying Giles’s wife, Martha during this time, so he may be saying anything just to win her freedom, or Putnam may be truly trying to acquire more land.  This also came up earlier in the play, and it involved Proctor, Giles, and Putnam. In Act I Putnam said that his grandfather owned lots of the land in the area. Proctor then said that Putnam’s grandfather had a bad habit of giving away land that never belonged to him. Putnam may want his land back that he believed belonged to his grandfather. He may also be angry with Proctor for saying negative things about his grandfather. Putnam may now want revenge on all citizens living on what he believes to be ‘his land’.

 

Does Putnam really have the intention of hanging people just to get their land, or is Giles overreacting to the situation?

 

2) Danforth: “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between” (94).

            This quote is Deputy Governor Danforth explaining to Proctor that he is either with or against the court. Proctor is suspected of disrespecting the court. This leads to suspicion of him and even more suspicion of his wife of witchcraft. This could be very bad for Proctor because when Hale was at his house he said some very erratic things that could be used against him as evidence later on. For example, both he and his wife claim they don’t believe in witches, and he ripped up the warrant. Proctor is not doing a very good job at making himself look innocent. He is very angry because he cannot believe the ridiculousness of the situation. However, this anger is coming across in the wrong way. He is mocking how absurd the accusations are, and showing lots of anger. He should be acting very innocent and respectful of the court if he wants to earn their trust and thus his wife’s freedom. Anger is not the way to go about saving his wife.

Will Proctor’s anger toward the situation make him look more guilty than innocent? When will he realize it’s a better idea just to agree with the court in order to free his wife?