The Good and the Bad

Over time, however, Hale realizes his terrible mistake and does his best to fix what he had destroyed; but it was beyond repair.
             Abigail is the dirtiest and most sinful person in The Crucible without a doubt. She has had relations with a much older man, Proctor, and calls herself a messenger of God as she condemns many innocent men and women to their own death or humiliation. Certainly, Abigail knows that she is not being a good Christian by doing the terrible things she does. She has, however, an undeniable confidence in her that never falters. It even makes the reader consider the fact that she may actually be the devil in the flesh: certainly no teenager living in Salem in the late sixteen hundreds can be so evil and feel no remorse. For Abigail, however, this is not the case. She states, "I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men" (24). Here, she is talking to Proctor about how he opened her eyes to the real world. The whole town of Salem and the values taught to the children had been based around Christian ideals, and when Abigail states that the town is phony, she is also stating that the Christian values are phony as well. This new realization of hers leads her to believe that there is no God, and more importantly, that there will be no consequences for her terrible actions. Abigail actually tells the court that, "I cannot stop my mouth; it's God's work I do" (115). As it turns out, Abigail is never found to be a liar, and before there can be any repercussions, she has left the town of Salem and disappeared entirely. In the case of Abigail, God plays no role, he does not stop her from ruining the lives of the people of Salem, and he does not protect the people from her terrible wrath: she is successful in her sinister machination.
             Danforth strongly believes that he is doing God's work and protecting the law, however, despite this, he finds himself in a tough situation.