Thomas Putnam of "reaching out for land." Putnam is brought in, and of course denies it. Giles, seeing what happened to the people who signed the first petition, refuses to reveal the source of his information. And then he makes matters worse by trying to catch Danforth in a legal technicality. This angers the deputy governor, who declares the court in full session. Now all that's left between the victims and disaster is the third deposition, Mary Warren's.But before Mary's ordeal begins, let's check up on Reverend Hale. Remember he's our proxy, he stands in for us in this play. You'll recall how much he changed in the week between Act I and Act II. Another week has passed; has Hale changed still further? In one way he is still the same. When anyone gets excited, Hale's the first one to try to calm things down. But now there's an added note of desperation in his pleas for peace, as if he's afraid he himself might be losing control. Notice what he's saying. In Act II he defended the court against the outrage of the farmers. Now he's defending the farmers against the sternness of the judges. He supports Giles Corey's outburst; he protests that every defense is not an attack upon the court; he tries to excuse Giles' silence by saying "there is a prodigious fear of this court in the country"; and he thinks Proctor's "weighty claim" should be argued by a lawyer.In all of these attempts he is brushed aside. Perhaps this explains his desperation: he sees this situation drifting toward disaster, and he is losing--or has already lost--his power to stop it.Now for Mary Warren. Proctor has no doubt coached her in what to say. We know she is afraid of him, we have seen him threaten her. But he knows that threats alone won't stiffen Mary against the gruelling trial she will have to face. He has encouraged her as well. He tells her a Bible story in which an angel watches over a little boy who also faces a dangerous task. He reminds her of all the go...
