Examples Of Hypocrisy In The Crucible

Throughout history, individuals have stood up to the most intimidating of forces if they feel they are being wrongly oppressed. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller individuals in Salem, Massachusetts are being accused of witchcraft and subsequently sought out by the courts for punishment. In the play, John Proctor’s wife is sentenced to the death penalty for being accused of witchcraft. Proctor’s only hope to save her is to challenge the hypocrisy of the Puritan theocracy of Salem and to fight against the death penalty, which was hanging at the time. Another case of hypocrisy and the death penalty is brought up and fought against in Charles Darrow’s “A Plea for Mercy”. This speech was written in response to representing the murderers of a fifteen-year-old
Proctor stands against it to rescue his wife and Darrow stands to defend his morals. In the play, Proctor first tries to fight against the death penalty by using logic to show that the accusers are lying and that the claimed witches are innocent. “Excellency, does it not strike upon you that so many of these women have lived so long with such upright reputation, and—” (Miller 84). Proctor also presents the court with a list of ninety-one signatures testifying for his his wife’s good character. “Will you read this first, sir? It’s a sort of testament. The people signing it declare their good opinion of Rebecca, and my wife, and Martha Corey” (Miller 86). Proctor does this in hopes of avoiding the death penalty for his wife as well as the other individuals he knows are innocent. Proctor fights the death penalty in order to save his wife, while Clarence Darrow fights it to defend his moral beliefs and rescue Leopold and Loeb. “Has the court any right to consider anything but these two boys? (...) If the welfare of the community would be benefited by taking these lives, well and good. I think it would work evil that no one could measure” (Darrow, ). Charles Darrow believes that America has killed long enough and that murdering someone for no benefit is not equivalent to justice. In Luther and Loeb’s case, however, Darrow sees no benefit or justice. Darrow also defends his stance on the death penalty by saying, “You may hang these boys; you may hang them by the neck until they are dead. But in doing it you will turn your face toward the past” (Darrow). He tries to sway the judge not to turn back to the years of murder that are World War I. He believes that humans are greater than murder and life is worth more than one’s opinion of it. Human life may be fragile, however someone should not have power to choose who lives and who