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Irtaly Aguayo

Ms. Smith

English 11, Period 6

29 January 2018

Wicked Revenge

They say, just like ice cream, revenge is a dish best served cold. Well that is a saying that

the young girls in the town of Salem during the 1600s would know. Going back to that year, the

town of salem was filled with Puritans. Puritans were protestant christians who were unhappy

with the English church. They were religious people who strictly believed that the bible should

be followed word for word. And due to the fact that the bible mentioned that some sins were

punishable by death, loop holes were consistently found in the town of Salem to allow people to

get away with things. Most of the men in the town were married, and with good name. A perfect

target for a young lady to crush on. And that is exactly what happened. The Salem Witch Trial

Hysteria was mainly caused by envious behaviors, the need for power, a corrupt court system,

seeking a sweet taste of revenge, and dilemmas ownership of property.

Similar to the women hysteria in the early 20th century, the Salem Witch Trials were

sparked through the crazy acts of young women. For instance, Abigail, the main antagonist of the

Crucible that portrays the Salem Witch Trials falls in love with someone’s husband and is willing

to do anything in order to make their love last. As discussed from an online article, “She caused

intense drama, which soon lead to Salem to be corrupt. She used hysteria to deceive the one

thing she wanted, Elizabeth on trail” (UK Essay 6). However, she was not alone, many of the

girls in the town envisioned many of the married men to be their “one true love” and were

willing to fight for it. This envy did not only come from envy of marriage and love, but also from
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position, or power. Wanting to be like someone else in the town and wishing you had what they

had could serve as inspiration to do better, but what if there was a simpler way? A faster way to

become or to simply take away what those you envied had. What if you could just accuse your

neighbor of wickedness and guarantee that they lose everything you were once envious of.

Apparently most of the people in Salem thought this way.

“... there are many rivalries, jealousies, and feuds in the small town that do not pertain to

religion or witchcraft. Many residents of Salem take advantage of the trails to express

their hatred towards neighbors and enemies that they could not express before due to such

a strict religious society” (SameDay Papers 2).

This seemed like the perfect loophole for all the religious folks in Salem. A way to be bad and

still seem good.

Salem needed help, that was true, but what seemed to be needed a lot more than that was

power. The need for power was another thing that sparked the hanging of the accused in Salem.

Being able to accuse whomever you please and it was almost guaranteed that you would get

away with it would give any individual power. “ … the necessity of the Devil may become

evident as a weapon… and used to whip men into a surrender to a particular church…” ( Miller

476). This quote shows how the Puritan Church created power with the fear of the rebel

character, the Devil. However power was not limited to whether you were fourteen and clueless

as ever or sixty seven with all the wisdom in the world, and that was the danger of it. Although it

may seem like a major coincidence that it was only the young girls who could see the terrorific

works of wickedness, with all the hysteria and fear going around who could blame them for

believing them.

“ They soon … become intoxicated… by the terrible success of their imposture (acting),
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and were swept along by the frenzing they had occasioned… Once or twice they were

caught in their own snore; and nothing but blindness of the bewildered community”

(Document 7).

However, it is my interpretation that the girls did not mean for all of this to get out of hand, as it

did, but simply went on a power trip after seeing how much their plan worked. As it was well

written by George Orwell in his famous book, Animal Farm, “Power corrupts and absolute

power absolutely,” the need for power later transitioned into corruption in the poor town of

Salem.

A lot of people like to blame the young girls for all the tragic deaths that took place

during the 1600’s in Salem, but looking into the events, I would have to disagree. Yes the girls

were wrong in the way that they should not have taken it too far to have people hanged, but

blaming this horrific event on such young irresponsible girls alone is not fair. In this case I think

we should look into the grown responsible who allowed it to happen. The court of Salem. “The

fact that the governor’s own wife was accused helped to stop the killing. The Puritan church

leader Cotton Mather agreed things had gone too far ”(Salem DBQ 35). This quote the provides

suspicious behavior in which the corrupt court of Salem only agreed that “things had gone too

far” because a significant person in his life was being threatened. Multiple deaths could have

been avoided if the court simple demanded physical evidence, or even if they did not force the

accused people to confess to something they did not do in order to stay alive. “ … Deputy Gov.

Danforth, has a confidence that provokes others to comply … determined to sustain the authority

of the court … at the expense of truth and fairness which is a form of perjury” (UK Essays 2).

This quote is a brief description on how by abusing their power, the members of the court
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maintained power. With this power of the court being corrupt, fear and hysteria built upon the

town of Salem, causing the scene of the Salem Witch Trials to worsen by the minute.

It was not always that the thirst was not always was satisfied. Lots seeked it through

accusing another, but power was not always given in reward. This later sparked up another

reason to accuse each other. For revenge. Revenge on a grudge held on for any amount of time.

An example of this was the relationship between Paris and the main protagonist, Proctor.

“Proctor: (instantly). Excellency, since I come to Salem this man is blackening my name. He-”

(Miller 517). Throughout the book they relationship always seems to worsen, and never improve.

Reverend Parris always insist that Proctor continuously attempts to blacken his name, while

Proctor insist that Reverend Parris is only concerned about his own interest and not that of the

people and much less of the church. However, this need to seek revenge did not end there, but

more so spread throughout the town. For it was not only Proctor and Parris in search of revenge

but also Abigail. “ It’s she put me out, you cannot pretend it you were. I saw your face when she

put me out…” (Miller 490). Abigail expresses her bitterness towards Elizabeth and secretly plans

her revenge. Every accusation created another need for revenge, and the cycle went on. Once the

whole town was in on it, seeking revenge just was not enough for the people in Salem anymore.

They needed more. Something that might define a man at this time; his land.

One thing that gave you your name during the 1600’s in the town of Salem was your

business and your land. Because most businesses were built on the lands of men, this ownership

was very significant. Marking a huge target for the envious people of Salem. “Reputation plays

such an important role that nothing can stand in the way of maintaining it” ( UK Essay 2). Just

like any other town, the town of Salem seemed to be split into two. The wealthy and prosperous

side and the poorer less fortunate side. This was also a significant role in the battle over property
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in Salem, Massachusetts. “Rivalries had developed, and the changes of witchcraft, which came

first from the poorer, more devout countryside, helped feed the tension” ( The Economist 4).

Watching your neighbor strive while you are struggling to barely get by must have had a major

toll on the poorer side of Salem. Causing many of them to accuse those innocent thriving

neighbors from the wealthier side.

Overall, the case of the Salem Witch Trials was not one that could have been solved that

easily. Just by interpreting what I thought to be the reasons behind the witch trials took me a

couple days, I could not imagine how difficult and frustrating it must have been for the whole

town of Salem to comprehend. Mainly because the whole dilemma could not have possibly been

blamed on one simple thing. For the fault would have to be put on all envy, the cretching thirst

for power, a corrupt justice system, looking for revenge, and the evil promised rewards of land.

This issue of revenge did not end here, in the Salem Witch Trials but is still a present threat to

our society today.