"I believe him! This girl has always struck me false! She has - "(114)
From this quote, it is inevitable that there is at least one sensible judge at the witch trials. In this quote, Hale suspects Abigail for lying and announces it for the first time. This strikes Danforth as odd, since he seems to trust her. From the scene where Abigail and the other girls supposedly freeze, Hale's suspicion must have been building up since. One moment the girls were fine, yet the next, they were complaining of a draft and implicating Mary at the same time. Hale is quite aware that there is much falsity within the words of Abigail. Abigail appears as a trustworthy individual because she deftly utilizes ethos as her means of appearing so. She attempts to charm those in the courtroom, and when she is suspected of anything or questioned at all, she throws a tantrum, claiming to be the one who is finding all the witches and must not be punished, for without her, Salem would be teeming with them. Shortly after this selection came in, Abigail and the other girls claim to see a yellow bird, which becomes a demon that "possesses" them. Danforth takes this to heart when he hears them repeat all the words of Mary after she says them, but Hale and the only other sensible person, Proctor, sense that the entire scenario is a mere fib. In her fear, Mary is eventually forced to lie herself, and pin the blame on Proctor, who was defending her. This links to the constantly recurring theme of lying present in this play, and in that we see how contagious these lies have become. This strikes Hale senseless, and shortly after that, he has had it. In a fury, he exclaims, "I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!"(120)
What may become of the court without a sensible judge such as Hale?
"Devil, him be pleasure-man in Barbados, him be singin' and dancin' in Barbados. It's you folks - you riles him up 'round here; it be too cold 'round here for that Old Boy."(122)
This quote is rather interesting, since it gives an opposing perspective on how the devil was seen during this time. Tituba, who said this particular piece, was accused of witchcraft. Interestingly enough, she claims to accept the devil in the face of her likely punishment of hanging, saying that in her home country of Barbados, the devil was a kindly spirit. From this, Tituba comes across as fearless, which is a good quality to have in situations like the witch trials. She claimed to accept the forbidden, and made sense out of it. Also, the reader can perceive an intelligent thought process behind her words. Sure she is accepting the devil, which is basically death if an utterance of such words is overheard. Yet, she claims that he is outgoing in Barbados. Salem is in Massachusetts, hundreds of miles from Barbados. Chances are that every other character in the play has never been to such a place. Being so far off, exotic, and warmer, which may be perceived as almost hell-like, the people may be inclined to think that Barbados is the place where the devil lies, and may possibly expel accused witches there. For Tituba, that would be a dream come true, since during her time in Salem, all she had known was trouble.
Is this going to work out at all?
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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