The most important word in The Crucible is God because the word is used to defend and prosecute others and has an ironic meaning throughout the play.
The word God is more important than other words because God is used to defend and prosecute others. To the villagers, all of their actions are judged by God and all sins are irredeemable. Although this is a large burden, it also holds the community together and prevents any form of disunity. However, at the start of the story, this community begins to collapse when Reverend Parris caught a group of girls dancing in the woods, “I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand... I saw Sarah Good …show more content…
God symbolizes the truth, forgiveness, goodwill, and many other aspects. These values are what many of the villagers of Salem try to live by every day. When in fact, the same people went against these values when witchcraft emerged. Everyone frantically accused one another of being a witch and justified their claims with God’s Name. In the play, Abigail explains, “God gave me strength to call them liars, and God made men to listen to me, and by God I will scrub the world clean for the love of Him!” (141). In this quote Abigail ironically declares she was given power by God to kill anyone for His love and believes she is doing God’s work even though she is prosecuting innocent lives. The same irony is shown many times in the court as well. It was said multiple times the court’s goal was to find the truth and to bring justice. Furthermore, the court of Salem is also representative of God’s laws and values, but its members are not. Their interests lie in only retaining authority through the court. Judge Danforth states the following after being questioned about an uprising, “I speak God’s law... If retaliation is your fear, know this - I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes,” (119). Again, this quote shows the irony in his actions and his use of God’s name, but it
The word God is more important than other words because God is used to defend and prosecute others. To the villagers, all of their actions are judged by God and all sins are irredeemable. Although this is a large burden, it also holds the community together and prevents any form of disunity. However, at the start of the story, this community begins to collapse when Reverend Parris caught a group of girls dancing in the woods, “I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand... I saw Sarah Good …show more content…
God symbolizes the truth, forgiveness, goodwill, and many other aspects. These values are what many of the villagers of Salem try to live by every day. When in fact, the same people went against these values when witchcraft emerged. Everyone frantically accused one another of being a witch and justified their claims with God’s Name. In the play, Abigail explains, “God gave me strength to call them liars, and God made men to listen to me, and by God I will scrub the world clean for the love of Him!” (141). In this quote Abigail ironically declares she was given power by God to kill anyone for His love and believes she is doing God’s work even though she is prosecuting innocent lives. The same irony is shown many times in the court as well. It was said multiple times the court’s goal was to find the truth and to bring justice. Furthermore, the court of Salem is also representative of God’s laws and values, but its members are not. Their interests lie in only retaining authority through the court. Judge Danforth states the following after being questioned about an uprising, “I speak God’s law... If retaliation is your fear, know this - I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes,” (119). Again, this quote shows the irony in his actions and his use of God’s name, but it