The Crucible Giles Corey Character Traits

Giles explains what he meant by talking about the books and that he never meant to accuse his wife of witchcraft. Giles explains, “It is my third wife, sir; I never had no wife that be so taken with books, and I thought to find the cause of it, d’y’see, but it were no witch I blamed her for. I have broke charity with the woman, I have broke charity with her”(70). Giles makes this claim in hopes of getting his wife out of jail and back home with him. Giles states that he broke her trust in him and he feels completely guilty for his wife’s imprisonment. As Giles talks he mentions that there might still be some form of witchcraft and he had only mentioned the books his wife read because he wanted to help find cause of witchcraft. When Giles speaks to the judge he hopes to redeem himself by getting his wife out of jail. With that, Giles has lost pretty much all belief in witches in Salem, and his only goal now is to make things right so that no more people are hanged.

Furthermore, Judge Danforth applies the rhetorical appeal of ethos to prove that what he believes is right. By establishing his credibility as a judge and and a person, he hopes to convince the people of Salem to believe in what he is saying. He does so by making references to important religious figures. When Giles Corey refuses to give up the name of his witness, Danforth claims that “the government and central church demand of [Giles] the name of him who reported Mr. Putnam a common murderer” (Miller 97). By stating that both “the government” and the “central church” are demanding that Giles give up the name, Danforth is establishing authority behind what he says. He is utilizing ethos by showing that he is credible because of his connection with the government and the church. As these two establishments held the most power and importance in Puritan society, he significantly validates his points to the people of Salem by relating himself to them. Judge Danforth continues to establish his credibility by referencing a religious figure. He claims that the trial is justified because “the voice of Heaven is

Firstly, throughout the play Judge Danforth acts with pride and arrogance. At the commencement of act III Judge Danforth voices his view on the ongoing phase of the witchcraft trials by stating that “Do you take it upon yourself to determine what this court shall believe and what it shall set aside?” (Miller 85). Here Danforth

He is a leader of the court and decides who is guilty, and who is innocent. The people of Salem believe that these two men came to protect Salem from witches. With high credibility from the public, Danforth and Hathorne’s decisions are trusted by the people of Salem. When Danforth realizes the mistakes he made with the people he sent to be hung, he continues to sentence people to be hung to keep his reputation. Danforth claims, “I cannot pardon these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just.” (129). This shows that Danforth would allow more people to die, just to keep his high position, which highlights the power that Danforth possesses. He is able to sentence anyone who he believes to be a witch to death. The people of Salem did not want to question the decision of Danforth, since they did not want to get on his bad side. This show the influence that Danforth has on the people’s

In the play, The Crucible, Judge Danforth is an extremely important character. He plays a significant role in the plot of the story, mainly because he is the person who presides over the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Generally, as a person, Judge Danforth is gruff and emotionless. Although, as the play goes on, one can tell that he is quite vulnerable and gullible at the same time. Danforth’s decisions and actions have a huge part in the story, and it is interesting to see how his beliefs play out.

In acts one and two, Giles is very paranoid because of what is going on around him, there are a lot of rumors, then accusations are being thrown around and then people are being locked up. This puts Giles on edge and he joins the others by accusing people, which is a symptom of groupthink. For example, Giles accuses his wife of being a witch when rumors of people participating in witchcraft are being spread around Salem, “I’m not sayin’ she’s touched the Devil, now, but I’d admire to know what books she reads and why she hides them. ' She’ll not answer me, y ’ see” (Miller, 41). Corey is so paranoid, while the rumors are going

     Judge Danforth’s conduct during the course of these tragic trials have lead me to be soured of the judicial community’s lack of impartiality. Judge Danforth is not alone in his quest for “justice”. Many other judges have used “divine right” as an excuse for the murder of innocent people. The witch trials are a mockery,that have no proof, evidence, or any other grounds for a trial. The only evidence they have, if we can even call it evidence, “spectral” evidence and hearsay. They be hanging people because a party of 16 year old lying heathens have claimed manifested spirits of the convicted have attacked them. How can these children blind the court, enough to get people murdered, under the guise of being bewitched. God save Salem

For Giles, he came to action when his wife was charge for witchcraft. This happen because of his wonders about the strange books she reads at night. ''It discomfits me! Last night-mark this- I tried and tried and could not say my prayers. And then she close her book and walks out of the house, and not suddenly -mark this- I could pray again!''(p.155) Corey not realizing what he did. His

As a man who was previously very torn between two sides, he find himself on the side of John Proctor when the time to stand up for the truth comes around (Miller 1175-1179). His anger begins soon thereafter. By Act III, Giles attempts to protect his wife in court. He tells the court the truth; Thomas Putnam is reaching out for land. When removed from the court, Giles is quick to breakdown from the pain of his wife’s potential death. He returns back to the notion of her reading books, but denies that she ever read them for anything other than entertainment (Miller 1189). Giles essentially sticks to the side of John Proctor until his untimely demise, once again proving his loyalty. Another example of this is when he is presenting the proof of Thomas Putnam wanting land. He tells Hathorne that he will not disclose the names of the people who provided the proof. (Miller 1195).Giles rage surfaces once more as he threatens to kill Putnam, his character reveling in the fact he is no longer the aged man of wry humor, but a man out for the truth and even revenge (Miller 1197). In the end of this act, Giles and John are put in the jail and the last and final mention of Giles is in Act IV from Elizabeth Proctor who informs John that Giles is dead. She also tells him his last words-- “More weight.” (Miller

When the outbreak first began, Giles wanted to watch the examinations and trials of the accused witches, but his wife wanted him to have nothing to do with them. She “took the saddle from his horse and hid it” (Starkey 64) because his “life had been punctuated by lawsuits and worse” (64). When his wife Martha began to publicly question the accusations and credibility of the young girls, she herself was accused as a witch and brought in for trial. Giles Corey was brought in to testify against his wife and, being a “great blundering husband” (Starkey 75), attempted to provide as many facts to the judges as possible, not understanding the power of his words. Thinking back to when his wife denied him from witnessing the examinations, Giles started to wonder if the girl’s accusations might actually have some truth behind them. In Giles Corey v. Martha Corey, he recounts several examples of how his wife behaved in ways he could not explain. His first example was one night when she asked him to go to bed, “I told I would go to prayr. & when I went to prayer I could nott utter my desires w'th any sense, not open my mouth to speake,” (Boyer and Nissenbaum 259-260), but that once she came towards him, he was able to speak and pray

“Giles Corey was not executed for refusing to name a witness, as in the movie. The play is accurate: he was accused of witchcraft, and refused to enter a plea, which held up the proceedings, since the law of the time required that the accused enter a plea. He was pressed to death with stones, but the method was used to try to force him to enter a plea so that his trial could proceed. Corey probably realized that if he was tried at all, he would be executed.” (Burns 4)

Several characters that accused others seemed to have other motifs than to cleanse the town of witchcraft. One, for instance, was Thomas Putnam. Putnam was a wealthy and greedy citizen of Salem. During the play, he accuses people of witchcraft to acquire more land. In the play, Giles Corey states that Putnam told his daughter to accuse George Jacobs of witchcraft. If Jacobs were to hang, the only citizen in Salem wealthy enough to buy his land was Putnam. Giles reported this and when he would not name the man who told him, Danforth arrests him for contempt of court. They torture Giles by placing large stones on his chest, making it hard to breathe, until he confesses. The only words Giles spoke were “more weight”.

He is depicted as stubborn, as shown in his response when Giles Corey provides evidence that proves his wife’s innocence. Danforth responds by saying “Do you take it upon yourself to determine what this court shall believe…? This is the highest court…in this province, do you know it?” His refusal to hear evidence that is likely to contradict his guilty verdict indicates that ultimately, Danforth considers himself the final judge of what is right and wrong, reflecting the corruption inherent in Salem’s authority. The authors thus provide valuable insight into the signs and motivations of a corrupt government.

As the trials go on, many more accusations are made. Giles Corey accuses Putnam of trying to get other landowners hanged for witchcraft so that he can have their land for himself. Marshall Danforth asks for a source and the person’s name. Giles says that he cannot give out the person’s name. Giles is in the court because his wife, Martha Corey had been arrested and accused of witchcraft. She gave away a pig to a man, and the pig became ill and died shortly after the pig was acquired. Francis Nurse is in the court because his wife, Rebecca Nurse was arrested too. He along with Giles continue to confront Danforth about Putnam’s doing, but Danforth responds with that they will have to put their thoughts into writing

After Martha Cory was accused, Giles brought it to the judge Danforth and told him about what Thomas was doing. Eventually, Giles was accused of witchcraft, although he would not confess to it. Seeing as he would not confess, they stacked rocks on him until he confessed, but instead of confessing, he was killed. The reason he wouldn’t confess was simple, he didn’t want his property to go to auction, so instead, his property went to his sons. So in the end, Thomas Putnam’s desire for all the land in his area drove him to have people accused.