Examples Of Power In The Crucible

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“The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.” -Edmund Burke. Power is used to torment people in The Crucible by Arthur Miller to either gain a better social status or to scare people into trusting them. This is shown when Abigail makes people believe that Elizabeth is a witch. Danford says that he has the power to either kill or save people, when Abigail makes almost everyone believe that Mary Warren is a witch as well.
Abigail first shows her power of persuasion when she makes everyone believe that Elizabeth is an evil witch who tortures her. Cheever goes to the house of Proctor only to find a doll with with a needle stuck to its belly. He is shocked, because he found “Abigail Williams, sir. She sat to dinner in Reverend Parris’s house tonight, and without word nor
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But he also talks about at least ...“ seventy-two condemned to hang upon my signature?” (81) He is direct with his threat, but also asks rhetorical questions to further emphasize his power over people. Miller portrays Danford as a powerful person who can change people's life in an instant, as proven by the amount of hangings and how many people were sent to jail because of him. Miller also shows that Danford has no remorse or does not feel guilty about his actions and does not think of the consequences beforehand. Because Danford is listing out how many people his signature has killed, he is gaining trust by other people by means of terror and