(The Crucible) Reading Journal 4 - All of Act 4

Act four starts out in the jail. Tituba is talking about the land of the Devil, Barbados. She says it is a great land and the Devil is going to take her there soon. Sarah Good tells Tituba to get the Devil to take her to Barbados as well after hearing about how the Devil is kind to her there. Tituba also offers Marshall Herrick if he wishes to come with them and he claims its the proper morning to go to Hell. This sets the mood for the scene; it preludes all the havoc in Salem that day. Afterward Parris, Hale, Hawthorne, and Danforth discuss the hangings scheduled for that morning. Reverend Parris reveals that his niece, Abigail Williams, has ran off with his fortune, and Reverend Hale reveals his true feelings about the court's ruling. He shows that he believes the accusations wrong and that he is trying to tell people to lie about their witchcraft to keep their lives. He believes that their deaths is as if he murdered them because he signed off on multiple rulings. They specifically address John Proctor who refuses to talk to them. They decide that they should have his wife, Elizabeth, talk to him and attempt to convince him to live. After their conversation Proctor begins to confess his dealings with the Devil, but refuses to give his name and we are led to believe he hangs along with Rebecca Nurse. The entire situation defeats the purpose of religion and God. By confessing the people of Salem are allowed to see the light of God. However, most of these people did not actually do what they are confessing to and therefore are lying which is against the word of God. So, if the people of Salem truly believed in God then there would be no confessions. The people in the "light of God" were actually disobeying God while the people who "dealt with Satin" are the people with God. It is a huge confusion that ends up with many dead. The most odd thing of it all is that Danforth refused to withdraw charges after all evidence pointed towards their innocence. The accusers have left Salem which leads us to believe it was all a lie, while the people who are accused are best Christians of them all for not confessing. It makes you wonder if this really was a Puritanical society with its corruption. In the end Proctor talks about how God's vision of his confession is enough and they shouldn't have to nail his signature to a wall, and Danforth refuses to accept this. This is especially odd since Puritans believed that God should be the only one to judge which means by not accepting his confession to God is disobeying their beliefs. Everything in this situation completely disobeys both logic and religion. Throughout the book there is a continuous build up for a need for righteousness, but it never comes. The ending is unpredictable to the unlikely events that took place in Salem. These people were crazy and from the first page to the last word Miller does an excellent job displaying their insanity.