Socratic Seminar

Tamika Longstreet

October 30, 2012

The puritan society depends heavily on the bible and Christianity. That being said, the highest authority, respect and power belong to the ministers and judges of the town. Abigail Williams for example starts out in the novel as just the niece of Reverend Parris, the minister for Salem. Reverend Parris caught the girls, including Abigail, doing something in the woods that suspiciously seemed like witch craft (page 10). Abigail, knowing that if she did not do something she would be charged for witch craft claimed that Tituba’s spirit was sent out on her and that’s what made her do it. “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba... She sends her spirit out on me...” Abigail exclaims (page 43-44). Danforth, the head judge expresses that witch craft is a “…ipso facto, on its face and by its nature, an invisible crime…” between the victim and the witch and cannot be proven by witnesses. He goes on to explain to the court and everyone else that they “…cannot hope a witch would accuse herself…” so they must rely on the victim’s testimony (page 100). Abigail can pretty much say whatever she wants and accuse whomever she pleases and the courts automatically believe what she states. When Mary Warren, one of the girls that were in the woods with Abigail and John Proctor’s housekeeper, confesses to the courts that everything the other girls were saying was pretense, Abigail started pretending that she was seeing Marry Warren with the devil. The court believed Abigail so easily because they could not see what was going on. At this point Abigail, who used to be just an average girl with dark secrets but not much power, now possess the great power to condemn others whenever she pleases.

Reverend Hale was called by Reverend Parris to convince people of Salem that the girl’s sickness was not because of an unnatural cause or witch craft. “There be no unnatural cause here…I have sent for Reverend Hale…Mr. Hale will surely confirm that” Parris...