Fear of being arrested or put to death is the key motivation in turning others in as witches. From these three human flaws, the town of Salem falls into chaos with many innocent people paying the price. Vengeance plays a key role in causing the mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail Williams, who?s probably most to blame for the trials, acts out of revenge. She and John Proctor have had an affair and when Elizabeth Proctor finds out, she throws Abigail out of their house.
They began when three young girls being the first victims of these horrible crimes to then spreading to almost everyone being accused. The trials destroyed many families and even though when the trails ended and they tried to right their wrongs the town was still not the same. The Salem witch trials were a terrible event in our history. The killing of innocent people over misconceptions and insecurities much like the holocaust was. Even though the holocaust was a bigger event then the trials.
As one can see, the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria. Puritan Lifestyle was one ... ... middle of paper ... ...in their family to become sick and possibly die. Many people were accused of witchcraft. More than twenty people died all together. One person was flattened to death because he was accused of witchcraft.
Abigail had to lie because she was scared of society and she began to bring other girls into this craze and got her and them into deep lies they could not get out of. It would be a reasonable statement to say that the girls were pressured into doing it by Abigail and once they were in it there was no getting out of this lie. Society had a big say on who was accused as witches, like the people who did not go to church were to be seen as people that could work with the devil. This was my interpretation on social pressure in society (Salem Witch Trials Edition).
They also had to pay for the chains they were held in; many of them died in these very chains. There were many injustices during the witch trials, and most people did not understand what a big deal it was. The Salem Witch Trials was an event that changed the course of American history. Many people were accused of being witches during the trials. A few of those people were children.
This obviously was occurring before the craziness of the witch trials. Yet, after the witch trials began, the sisters turned against each other. After getting into a huge disagreement, Deliverance states that “[her] blood boiled through [her] and rushed to [her] fists and sent them flying at [her] sister”(138). The stress of the witch trials led hysteria to fall upon the town, leading to fights, disagreements, and accusations. Not only was this found in this novel, but it is also featured in The Crucible.
From that point on many people were accused of being a witch and were killed. This occurred for many different reasons; either they were hanged for their crimes, crushed by stones for refusing to stand trial on their cases, or from waiting in the jail for so long before their case came up. As people began to investigate the Salem Witch Trials further they came up with two explanations; either the people of Salem were begin acted through by the devil or
The Salem Witch Trials were started by a couple of bratty girls who decided it would be enjoyable to accuse someone of being a witch, and then contort their bodies and act afflicted any time that person came around. Sadly, the accusations of these girls were taken very seriously by the judge and adults of Salem. People were convicted of witchcraft simply because they had irregular moles or blemishes on their faces. Yes, the people of Salem were in a mass hysteria, filling up jails with “witches” to the point where the jails reached capacity and they could not fit any more people in them. They were able to accuse these people through mob mentality, Puritan culture, and forced conformity.
The law system was unfair during the trials, so when or if someone was accused the court would side with the accuser, unless of course, they were a witch themselves. In conclusion, the people who died and who were accused of witchcraft were not really witches, Salem and it’s inhabitants were under the influence of mass hysteria, personal beliefs and grudges that eventually became the chaos of the Salem witch hunts of
Throughout the trials ,Elizabeth would testify and accuse many of witchcraft. After the trials many people believed that Elizabeth had faked all of the strange behaviors in court, but it was too late for after the trials were over she had accused and killed many. “Elizabeth Hubbard maintained a spiteful and malicious role throughout the witchcraft scare…” (Hill, sec. 20). Elizabeth had been seen as the girl who threw violent fits.