Judge Danforth In The Crucible

In Arthur Miller’s distinguished play called The Crucible, Judge Danforth said , “A person is either with this court or he must be counted against it” (Miller). This quote represented Danforth’s character as he has a very narrow form of justice, either right or wrong. This quote foreshadowed the sentencing of John Proctor. Although Proctor was known as a good man in the townspeople’s eyes, Danforth only sees his guilt and devilish ways. Some characteristics of being an effective judge is being fair, having courage, and impartiality. Judge Danforth loved to show his authority and his position in society. Therefore, Judge Danforth was not an effective judge, because he only cared about his public appearance, and his narrow mindedness couldn’t
Danforth, although seemingly intelligent and an experienced judge, suffers from pride. It is that pride that leads to many of his mistaken and irrational judgments in The Crucible. He is kind-of logical in his reasoning for accusing so many witchcraft activities. He states, "Witchcraft is an invisible crime...who may possibly be witness to it? the witch and the victim...now we cannot hope the witch will accuse herself...therefore, we must rely on her victims” (Miller). This is a logical way to justify his proof. He assembles the "bring Elizabeth in to confirm adultery" scheme, which on surface level, could be a good plan. However, Danforth fails to realize he can’t protect one's husband. Even though Danforth is intelligent and well spoken, he still has a tendency to be narrow minded.
Judge Danforth was not an effective judge, because of his power thirst, and self centered mindset. Judges should be held and strive to the highest level of integrity. Good judges are impartial and fair. Danforth, on the other hand, worried about his reputation too much. As a result of Danforth not being impartial, the trial was taken way out of proportion, and innocent village people