Power and Control in the Term Paper

The court case scene also shows how focused the leaders are on maintaining their power. This is seen where Danforth says to Proctor, "You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between" (Miller 94). This shows the complete lack of choice that the people of the society have. If they do not accept the will of the leaders completely, they are considered as being against them. This leaves no room for anyone to question anything. At the same time, it shows that the leaders of the town are intently focused on maintaining complete power. In this way, the leaders dominate completely, while the people are meant to be submissive to the point that they do not question any aspect of the leader's decisions.

It is in the context of this environment that the actions of the people of Salem can be understood.The people may disagree with the way the society is managed, but they have no outlet for their concerns. They are completely dominated and not even able to voice their concerns privately for fear that what they say will be reported. The hysteria that occurs then exists as the only outlet that the people have. In effect, there is no option for anyone to approach the problem and make changes based on rational arguments. It is in this context that hysteria is able to be created. The hysteria is also something that the powers of the society are not able to control. It acts as the opposite of the controlled system of justice they created, which explains why it is the one thing that has a serious impact on the leaders of the society and the one thing that leads to change.

Works Cited

Miller, A. The Crucible. New York:….....