The Crucible: Act Four

Jonathan Edwards, who, according to the Before You Read section in our textbook, was considered the most influential American writer before Benjamin Franklin, preached using the terrors of religion. Although I feel like I wouldn't have responded well to his intense preaching techniques, it must have worked for some people because we are still reading his speeches today. Edwards has many ways to engage his listeners and get them to feel his same emotion towards religion. For starters, he builds them up with his words and dramatic feelings. How can one not get caught up in a speech when the speaker is using such emotion? He also attempts to make the listener feel bad for their blessings by comparing them to the less fortunate. "What would not those poor damned, helpless souls give for one day's such opportunity as you now enjoy!" (Edwards 99). His anger and words are used in order to bring listeners down to his level. I understand that his job as a preacher is to engage listeners, but doing it in this way is very wrong in my opinion. One harsh quote that stood out to me was the following. "You are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes, as the most hateful and venomous serpent is in ours" (Edwards 98). I think the name calling and tearing down is completely unnecessary when trying to prove a point, especially because Edwards does not show much support for his own opinions. Similar to how Edwards uses anger and intense lessons to engage his readers, the characters of The Crucible use fear to find what they are looking for. They threaten, and eventually prove, that if you have any part in the act of witch craft, you will be hanged. If one was believed to be a part of the witch craft, they would be tortured until they admitted to it. How this served a purpose is beyond me because if you continue hurting someone to get them to admit something, of course they will admit to it even if it is falsified. In the end, people will be hanged if they did or didn't get involved in the witch craft. This was the case for John Proctor. He admitted to performing witch craft, but he was really innocent. John Edwards puts it best when he says, "God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least" (Edwards 97). Proctor's decision to admit to a crime that he did not commit was a large symbol in the novel. He offered himself as a way to end the rumors and conflict in his community. Judging by Jonathan Edwards' speech, he would most likely not have agreed with Proctor's actions. "Look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation" (Edwards 97-98). However, Proctor made his decision and added a sympathetic touch to the story.


Edwards, Jonathan. "From Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 97-99. Print.