There is money to be made in this. As many go to jail and are killed, Putman is there to gather up their land and make money of the whole disaster claiming he owns what he doesn’t What lumber is it you’re dragging… it’s in my bounds!. This shows the corruption of this so-called pure village.
Elizabeth is an example of how serious this swamp becomes. She is accused, by Abigail, of keeping a poppet, a voodoo mascot and of having put a pin in it. In all the madness people believe anything because in this swamp distinguishing truth from lies is very difficult especially with everyone distorting things people such as Abigail and the other girls in the court using mass hysteria to pretend they can feel a witches presence. This makes those who believe them get sucked in, unable to escape. Others such as Putnam getting revenge on their neighbour, using the confusion in the hunt as his medium the world is mad. Procter, however, during his wife’s arrest, begins to untangle a bit of these mysteries to discover there is nothing supernatural about what is happening in Salem. Vengeance is walking Salem – vengeance is walking Salem we are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrants vengeance! I’ll not give my life to vengeance. By this quote is meant that people using the hysteria to get one back at their neighbour and now it’s easier than ever because vengeance writes the law. And the sources are being overlooked. Why do you never wonder is Parris is innocent or Abigail? He is so sure that Vengeance is walking Salem that he will give up his own good name by admitting an affair with Abigail to prove it into our pit we will together slide. If this had in the court then Abigail would’ve been seen in her true colors. Sadly, Elizabeth chooses the worst of times to tell her first lie. Her husband isn’t guilty of lechery.
In this society being different brings fear. Proctor is being different by believing different things to what everyone else believes. He believes that there is an ulterior motive behind this entire witch naming, namely revenge. But others, Danforth, Parris and Putnam to name a few have been sucked into to this swamp believing that people really are being possessed by the devil, or at least that’s what they show on the outside because again, their ulterior motives could be very different. We already know that Putman ‘s grievances and lust for money are his main motives. Any opposition to what the mass say means practice of witchcraft hence Proctor is accused of this because he doesn’t go to church. He gives good reason for this. I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God any more. God is dead. He has a valid point. In Salem God is dead to many because people like Parris is more interested in golden candles than what actually happens in the church. Of course to the people of Salem, hating the minister can only mean devil worship. When accused Proctor is forced with the decision that many have had to face. He was to give up his life for the truth, or to keep it for a lie. A sad occasion though this was, it led to the most intimate part of the play as we found Proctor and Elizabeth faced with the possibility of never seeing each other again. It is a cold house I kept Elizabeth admits linking back a scene early on with Proctor and Elizabeth dining. Proctor says It’s winter in here yet. Using the idea of cold as a metaphor for the chilly atmosphere they shared before expressing her deepest love for Proctor. This witch-hunt then brings about the strengthening of a life long cold relationship. And I believe that this is not the only good that comes out of this witch-hunt. Giles, not being willing to tell a lie and so refusing to talk, keeping his honour he would not say aye or nay his indictment and being crushed for it. Proctor not willing to give his name up for all to see a lie it is my name and I cannot have another … it is a lie and being hanged for it. People, who at last see the uncertainty, fear and hence needless slaughtering, a witch-hunt brings about. And especially Hale who sees Proctor, a good man and a friend, hanged for a crime he certainly didn’t commit simply because he had courage enough to get to the bottom of this swamp and discover the real motives for the witch hunt; Greed, lust, envy, and hatred.
