The Crucible Homework P128-145

I. Quotations
1. "Twelve are already executed; the names of these seven are given out, and the village expects to see them die this morning. Postponement, now specks a floundering on my part; reprieve or pardon must cast doubt upon the guilt of them that died till now. While I speak God's law, I'll not crack its voice with whimpering." - Danforth (page 129)

• Vanity is corrupting Danforth's mind. It is his pride that tells him he cannot be wrong; it is his pride that blind himself from seeing the truth; it is his pride, once again, that makes him to think he is the voice of God on earth. Like every fatuous tyrant has been made in history, it is the curse of pride that drove Danforth insane. When people think they are superior than others, there would be a lack of embracing others opinions in their hearts. That's exactly what Danforth is struggling right now - he doesn't want his reputation to go down and he doesn't want people to think he made a mistake, especially his is a representation of God's voice on earth. We can see that Danforth is a selfish person who sacrifice others lives in order to let his brittle pride survive.
  

2. "Do what you will. But let none be your judge. There be no higher judge under Heaven than Proctor is! Forgive me, forgive me, John - I never knew such goodness in the world!" - Elizabeth Proctor (page 137)

• This quote echoes another quote said by Elizabeth at the end of the play, "He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!" (p145) So here, the "goodness" is equal to Proctor. This shows Elizabeth put her faith in her husband again. Secondly, this quote answered the question I had yesterday - "should we follow the 'fashion' or should we follow our hearts?" Here, Elizabeth is telling Proctor (and readers like us) that we should make our decisions by ourselves. There is no higher judge other than God that can determine our lives. Although it seems to be a kind of pride, it is a positive one. When someone has to choose between his body or spirit, and he or she decides to die faithfully rather than live dishonestly, the so-called pride is actually self-esteem. Like Proctor's heroic actions at the end, he was saving his soul from being corrupted by lies. Make your own choice and be faithful to both you and God, then your resurrection will come. God bless Proctor...and the people like him.
  

II. Discussing Questions
1. What would the village react to the execution of Proctor?

2. What should we choose: make a lie to live or save the pride and die?