Injustice in the Salem Courthouse
By Katie Cueva
Have you ever thought that the secret to manipulating people is preventing change? Written by Arthur Miller in 1953, The Crucible describes the events of the Salem witch hunt and trials, based on historic events. One of the key problems in Salem is the way that the court system is designed, making it almost impossible for someone to prove their innocence if accused of witchcraft. The leadership of the town is unwilling to make change, continually oppressing the lower classes of the town and anyone who threatens the court. The courts of Salem are unjust because of many entrenched practices and beliefs that are structured to prevent change.
Religion plays a huge part in the Salem court system, which in Salem, is essentially an extension of the church. Throughout the book, people use religion in order to manipulate the practices of the court system, and the way that people interact with it. When Hale questions the integrity of the court system, Parris responds, “All innocent and Christian people are happy for the courts in Salem! These people are gloomy for it”(Pg.94). By saying this, Parris is purposefully backing Hale into a corner, implying that anyone who is unhappy with the court system is either guilty of a crime or a Satanist. In 18th century Salem, one of the worst possibilities is being accused of Satanism, and anyone who is not viewed as Christian enough is suspect. This gives people in power a tremendous amount of leverage, because they can accuse people of “hating god” or being “unwilling to devote themselves.” This is used to benefit the courts, because they can declare that any person who does not agree with the courts must be guilty of Satanism. This bars the townspeople from expressing their beliefs about the court system, essentially promising that they could be accused of witchcraft if they do. This is because anyone who is able to freely express their opinion is a threat to those in power as it brings the unjustness to light and exposes them for what they really are, which could fuel a movement to make change in the court system.
Another reason why the court system is so hard to change is because of hysteria and pressure from the town on the justice system to protect the town from witches. Everyone in the town is terrified of witchcraft, and pressure is on the court to prevent it. If the courts do not look like they are doing enough, or hanging enough people, they might be seen as negligent or even on the side of Satan. This causes them to arrest and hang an absurd amount of people based on unfounded claims, which only adds to the hysteria in the town. In reference to the dire situation in the Salem jails, Elizabeth says, “I would to God she were. There are fourteen people in the jail now, she says. And they’ll be tried, and the court has power to hang them too, she says. … The Deputy Governor promises hangin’ if they’ll not confess, John”(Pg.52). These are mostly people who are against the courts to begin with, who are most likely to be hanged in order to prevent the townspeople from pushing back against the courts. This is not only because this is the most beneficial to the courts’ reputation among the leaders in the town, but also because it helps the people within the court system to stay in power.
The desire of the authorities to stay in power, resulting in the recurring persecution of minorities in the town, is another reason that prevents the court system from changing. When Francis attempts to protect people who signed a statement declaring their good opinion of the accused witches, Judge Danforth responds, “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against, there is no road in between''(Pg.94). Anyone who disagrees with the court is a threat to those in power, and therefore the court is biased against people who disagree with it. In The Crucible, women are the first to be accused of witchcraft. They are viewed as vile, cunning, and manipulative. Because of these perceived traits, they have much less power to defend themselves when accused. Tituba, the Parris’s Black slave, is quick to be blamed by Abigail when Parris questions her about the events in the woods. Since she is a slave and is already seen as less than human by the townfolk, Abigail knows she has almost no chance of defending herself and Tituba is promptly arrested along with two other women. Because they are forced to arrest an absurd amount of people, the court naturally gravitates towards the people who have the least amount of power in the town. These are the people that know the leaders of the town, or the people who could potentially influence the court, will not care about being hung or imprisoned unfairly. This leads to the continual oppression of minorities not only in the town’s customs, but through the court system.
Any system of power needs to be open to change. If it is not flexible, it becomes easy for powerful figures to continually enforce their ideology without any sort of influence from the other people. It is also important to have different people in positions of power in order to adapt to changing circumstances. Because the Salem court system is purposefully designed to help the leaders stay in power and continually oppress anyone who challenges them, it creates an unjust system that makes it impossible to effectively serve as the town’s justice system. It uses religion in order to scare people away from anything that could be viewed as Anti-Christian, manipulating the town’s views to silence people’s voices. The court’s intransigence reflects their religion’s inflexibility, which in turn helps prevent a change in power. Hysteria in Salem only adds fuel to the fire, causing court executions to spiral out of control in a desperate attempt to keep up with the growing numbers of allegations. All of these systems play a key role in preventing change in Salem, which cements injustice and prevents people from proving their innocence.
