caused Mary Warren toaccuse John Proctor of witchcraft. Once the scam started, it was too late to stop, and the snowballing effectof wild accusations soon resulted in the hanging of many innocents. After the wave of accusations began,grudges began to surface in the community. Small slights were made out to be witchcraft, and badbusiness deals were blamed on witchery. Two characters in The Crucible, Giles Corey and ThomasPutnam, argue early on about a plot of land. Corey claims that he bought it from Goody Nurse but Putnamsays he owns it, and Goody Nurse had no right to sell it. Later, when Putnam's daughter accuses GeorgeJacobs of witchery, Corey claims that Putnam only wants Jacobs' land. Giles says, "If Jacobs hangs for awitch he forfeit up his property - that's law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great apiece. This man is killing his neighbors for their land!" Others also had hidden motives for accusing theirneighbors. Once the accusations began, everyone had a reason to accuse someone else which is why thehangings got so out of hand. The wave of accusations can be likened to mass hysteria, in which the peopleinvolved are so caught up that they start having delusions of neighbors out to do them harm. One of themain accusers, Abigail Williams, had an ulterior motive for accusing Elizabeth Proctor. In The Crucible,Abigail believed that if she got rid of Goody Proctor, then John Proctor, her husband, would turn to Abby.John Proctor had an affair with Abigail, but for him it was just lust, while Abigail believed it to be truelove. She told John that he loves her, and once she destroys Elizabeth, they will be free to love oneanother. John is horrified at this, but can do nothing to convince Abigail that he is not in love with her.Because of Abigail's twisted plot to secure John for herself, Elizabeth is arrested. It is the hidden motivesbehind the accusations that fan the flames of the Salem witch trials. To get the...
