Furthermore, as the witch hunt draws to a finale in Act 4, it is seen how the dangers of hysteria are largely that many lives can be lost from a hysterical situation, and it is extremely difficult to stop the situation. At this point, John Proctor is set to be hanged in the morning and Danforth as well as Harris want John Proctor to lie to save himself from the hanging, and enlists Elizabeth to talk Proctor into lying. This attempt at her appeal to him was supposed to be a sentimental appeal, as if Proctor was to listen to anyone, it would be Elizabeth. Yet Proctor refuses when he realizes he would have to have a public record of his partaking in naming names ( ). He choses to not continue the string of naming names, and to instead face death.
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Throughout the play, the logical fallacies are seen to become more numerous and more detrimental. In Act One, where many people believed that witchcraft was but a fairy tale, the people thought fairly logically. However, as people began naming names, fear began to course through the town. As hysteria started, it became easier to add to it, just like how a fire is quicker to build than it is to catch. Moving through Act 2 and 3, the accusations and logical fallacies that came with the hysteria helped to further instigate the witch hunt. People only saw the witch hunt as logical due to the fear and logical fallacies. When people could convince themselves that the actions being taken had basis, there was no need to feel guilt over naming names or sentencing one to death. Therefore, the fallacies in thinking promoted people to only see what they wanted to, which was disastrous in stemming the witch hunt. Logical fallacies and the rhetoric of a witch hunt allowed the hysteria to take place as people could justify it. If something can be justified, then it is not wrong in justifiers perspective, and therefore,, can be
Throughout the play, the logical fallacies are seen to become more numerous and more detrimental. In Act One, where many people believed that witchcraft was but a fairy tale, the people thought fairly logically. However, as people began naming names, fear began to course through the town. As hysteria started, it became easier to add to it, just like how a fire is quicker to build than it is to catch. Moving through Act 2 and 3, the accusations and logical fallacies that came with the hysteria helped to further instigate the witch hunt. People only saw the witch hunt as logical due to the fear and logical fallacies. When people could convince themselves that the actions being taken had basis, there was no need to feel guilt over naming names or sentencing one to death. Therefore, the fallacies in thinking promoted people to only see what they wanted to, which was disastrous in stemming the witch hunt. Logical fallacies and the rhetoric of a witch hunt allowed the hysteria to take place as people could justify it. If something can be justified, then it is not wrong in justifiers perspective, and therefore,, can be