Injustice begins to prevail as the authorities allowed an array of hearsay evidence, foul gossip and even spectral evidence to build up a case for verdict. The accusations made by the individuals of Salem which were based on spectral evidence and “the absurd claims of affliction by supernatural forces,” easily led to injustice. The social injustice during 1692 was caused by a horrible incident of foul gossip which cost the lives of twenty people and more than two hundred people being accused of witchcraft before common sense prevailed years after the tragic deaths. Under pressure to explain their peculiar behavior, fearing to be called witches, the girls blamed three women for afflicting them and this began the famous Salem witch hunt and trials and Miller uses this as a development in his play, The Crucible. The hysteria over witches continues to grow, and Corey’s wife is tried as a witch.Salem, Massachusetts 1692, faced a bizarre incident where number of girls begin to display strange behaviors of uncontrollable fits and even curling up their bodies into weird positions and this rose a lot of suspicion in Salem. But, not realizing what he had done, Giles Corey had just sentenced his wife to be hanged. 40) The explanation for this was very simple: Giles was not a churchgoing man. “It discomfits me! Last night–mark this–I tried and tried and could not say my prayers.Īnd then she closes her book and walks out of the house, and suddenly–mark this–I could pray again!” (p.

When the suspicion of witches begins, Corey unthinkingly says something about his wife reading books, and hiding them from him, which was somehow disrupting his prayers. Although 83 years old, he is ridiculed and blamed for things that go wrong. Before the witch trials begin, Giles Corey is just a silly old man, courageous but not very smart. With just those two words, the character of Giles Corey is defined. Throughout the play, Corey changes from a foolish old man, into a hero who courageously dies for his family’s well-being and honor.

With the words “more weight” Giles Corey, from The Crucible by Arthur Miller, becomes a true hero.

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