predestination, and if the girls weredancing just to dance, and not because the Devil took them from their path to God,the townspeople would then have to take the responsibility for that, as it would bethier fault for letting these girls go astray. They were also afraid of change. Change in their beliefs would shut down the entire town, because it was builtmainly on their ideology. For the Puritans, their beliefs were what brought themto America, and if they didn't have their beliefs, what would they have had? The town of Salem was a Puritan town, and they had very strict beliefs. There were certain things, such as dancing, that just weren't done, as they wereseen to be related to the Devil. When things such as dancing occured, the incidentwas seen in direct relation to dealings with the Devil. "Someone called the Devilin that forest!" This was the immediate reaction made by reverend Hale, who wascalled to the village to examine the accused and afflicted. It is no wonder thatthese girls started to make accusations against others, as they were afraid to beaccused of witchcraft themselves. Two of the girls were so frightened, that theypretended to be in an unwakeable sleep. The belief in the Devil shown in thisfilm shows the historical accuracy. This is true because such strong beliefs in evil Spielmannpg 3and the Devil were certainly recorded, such as the belief that because the NativeAmericans were not Christian, they must be evil. Another strong and influential feeling, was the feeling of judgement. Judgement by God, as well as by others. It is a well known fact that the Puritansjudged their lives by how faithful they were to God, and by how pure they were. This is also shown in The Crucible. For example, Elizabeth Proctor, the wife ofJohn Proctor, who had an affair with Abigail, says to him, "The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you." In this quote, she is referring to the affair, and how hecan not forgive hims...
