Act 4

                It’s my time. I know what I have done and what I haven’t. God knows what I’ve done and what I haven’t. I will die with all of the goodness I have left in me. I’m picturing Elizabeth still sobbing as she was when I told her I will hang. I just couldn’t let them win. Danforth wanted a written confession and for me to convict others. How can I expect anyone, especially my children, to know right from wrong if unless I act right?  I chose to keep any dignity I had left and die for the truth.

                I can’t really explain how it got this bad. There is no reasonable answer. Salem witch trials have turned neighbors against each other and people have accused others just because they didn’t like them.  Danforth really thinks I am a witch. It’s sad that the judge is so ignorant and still hasn’t realized that this is all pretend. Giles Corey died. Rocks were placed on him until he was crushed because he refused to confess or deny the allegations against him. He wanted to be able to pass his farm to his sons.

                Parris and Hale begged me to confess. They don’t want to let me die for this. I’m aware that if I give Danforth his dumb confession I will live, but I just can’t. If not to make this all even clearer, I heard that Abigail ran away. There are rumors in the jail that she took all of her uncle Parris’ money and probably caught a boat far away after hearing another town ended their witch hunt. She was lying the whole time and if that didn’t prove it, nothing will. Danforth still won’t give in. He won’t postpone any more executions. I am going to die. I will soon hang and people will see me, an innocent man killed for no reason.

I will miss Elizabeth and my children, but I cannot give up my name. I already gave my soul when I gave my verbal confession, but signing would be selling my name and that is all I have left. I must die with my name and any goodness I have left. As long as I have that, and the assurance that Elizabeth has forgiven me for my sins against her. And I know she has because she thought it was he who drove me away from her. It is not her fault by at least I will die at peace with myself and my life as much as I could be. This being my last entry, I hope one day someone will find this and be able to understand the truth about the Salem Witch Trials.                                    

Act 3

And I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but it certainly has. I am currently in jail now. I’m tired of this. I declared in court that the devil is everyone who won’t bring men out of ignorance. I don’t understand how the people in this stupid town still don’t see people are being convicted for no reason at all. This is all Abigail’s doing. And I wouldn’t have even been involved if I hadn’t given into her temptations. If I would have remained loyal to my wonderful wife she would not be in jail and neither would I.

                It pains me to recall today enough to even write it down. Elizabeth is now pregnant so she is safe for at least another year. I confessed to sleeping with Abigail. I called her a whore. But I also said that Elizabeth could never tell a lie and then she lied about not knowing about my affair. Now I further convicted her and I convicted myself. It’s really Abigail. She has so much power over Salem. She even got Mary Warren to turn on me. She is relentless. Mary admitted to convicting people knowing that they would be killed by pretending to see evil.

                And now I had murdered my name is the town. Everyone knows about Abigail and I now, but at least I feel slightly more resolved. Still guilty, but more resolved with myself. I pray that god will help me and Elizabeth and the other people in prison. I refuse to confess to a crime I didn’t commit. There is nothing to do about Danforth. How can you get rid of an insane judge who accepts little girls screaming about imaginary birds as sufficient evidence to hang a person? Maybe he just refuses to admit it, but he is so stubborn. He accused me of trying to go against the court. He said the same about Giles and refused to let him share his evidence.

                Danforth decided that a person should not be angry or not want to go to court and that they must be trying to hide something and therefore be guilty of witchcraft. There is zero logic here.

 

Act 2

Oh, it is so much worse than I could have imagined. The world has gone mad! I don’t understand how nobody in Salem has any sense any more. They took Elizabeth. Earlier Mary came back from court saying that there are thirty-nine women in jail for being witches. All put there without any actual proof! The devil must really be among us if innocent people are to be hanged. And the only way to avoid hanging is to admit you are a witch. How messed up is that? Hale even admitted that when I told him. Cheever came straight into my home and took my wife away to jail because a poppet had a pin in it. This is all absurd.

                It makes all of this even worse that Elizabeth and I got into a fight earlier today and I saw she was upset again. It had to do with Abigail. And now Abigail is the one accusing Elizabeth. Since when can a girl just accuse someone and they get sent to jail. Something is dangerously wrong. Someone in court was sail to have “sent their spirit” to strangle people. Hale even admitted that Parris and Abigail could be just as easily as anyone else, yet he won’t do anything about it! Why are suddenly all of these “witches” popping up? It’s ludicrous that this is what we have come to.

                Francis Nurse and Giles Corey showed up tonight too. Both of their wives were arrested also. Both with no proof! Something needs to be done to stop this immediately. Mary had said that Elizabeth had been brought up but when Hale showed up to question me I knew the people were suspicious. This just isn’t right. I’m afraid they’ll come for me too now. I wasn’t able to re-site the complete Ten Commandments... I forgot adultery. Hale also asked why only two of my kids are baptized. It is true that my youngest isn’t, but it’s only because Reverend Parris is a materialistic man. My thoughts of him are clearly right considering has permitted this with business and is going to allow these people to be killed. That doesn’t even matter at this point. What does matter is that they have my wife and this court needs to be stopped and it needs to be stopped now!

 

Act 1

Some sort of strangeness has afflicted Salem. There is talk of witchcraft everywhere and there is barely even reason to believe there is a problem. Parris’s daughter, Betty, has fallen ill. I went to visit them and she looked sick. Just sick. People are talking that she tried to jump out the window and all of a sudden Parris has gone crazy and called in Hale from Beverly to check out the situation. Parris is the one so concerned about people thinking there is witchcraft in his house. Hale is an expert of witchcraft and is known for conducting witch hunts. Let me tell you, the last thing Salem needs is a witch hunt.

                The last thing I needed was to run into Abigail. I do recall I previously mentioned a clouded past of mine. The name of that fault is Abigail. Now she won’t accept when I tell her that I am long finished with those ways. She had the audacity to claim that I love her. I was blinded by a severe lack of judgment and lust. I don’t wish to think about her. It only causes me pain and I’m still unfortunate in my search for a way to move on from that. I feel like a fraud and it’s hard to deal with.

                I feel that I have become a hypocrite when hypocritical people are one of the most prevalent things in the world that ail me. Parris is among them. He is the reverend and we got into an argument which isn’t the best for me. In such a strict religion, one is not supposed to question much. It’s just that all Parris preaches is hell and I just can’t stand it anymore. Nevertheless, I did find out some interesting news in my visit. Abigail was among a few girls with the slave, Tituba, who were allegedly dancing in the woods. They think she is conspiring with the devil. Abigail admitted that this whole idea of witchcraft is absurd, but I have such a bad feeling about this. I heard Tituba has been accused of being a witch. That kind of offense gives the court the right to hang people. Salem is beginning to lose its mind and I am extremely worried.

Pre-Text

I think this journal will serve to be a positive resource for me in the future. I’ve always noticed how I have so many thoughts and I plan to use this in order to document some of them. I think I should start off with a little information about my life currently. My home is in Salem, Massachusetts; a lovely little community. I’m glad to be in a place like this where people are able to live Puritan lives far away from persecution back in Europe, though some people are haunted by the thought that they are still persecuted. Let me clarify that we are perfectly safe to practice out religion here. We in Salem are a small town and we share the same beliefs and so far it’s been working out fine for us.

                The town’s main focus is obviously Puritanism and staying faithful and committed to our religion. If anything is nearly as important to that, it would be reputation. I used to consider myself a pretty respectable person and I would pride myself on that. I think my integrity may have been the main reason my wife, Elizabeth, fell in love with me. I love that Salem is motivated in maintaining strong sense of community. It wouldn’t be a bad life to own a farm here and have a family, for I could see myself living happily here for a while.

                Yes, I do believe that this Puritan way of life is very suitable for me. The only flaw that prevents me personally from being content is a dark time of my past. I have made some decisions that I regret greatly, yet Puritanism is not providing me with a way to get passed it. Confessions of such actions would be slaughtering my own name and reputation... I could not just confess to committing adultery, for I would be ruined in the society. Being completely unsure of how to handle this all I can do is pray. I really couldn’t help it at the time. All I want is to be rid of this guilt. And Elizabeth, poor Elizabeth, I wish I could undo what I have done for her sake. She deserves much better than that from me.

                I have always been loyal until that and I try to tell myself that it doesn’t totally define me, although if it went public I would undoubtedly be condemned within the community. Now that I am contemplating this society I am starting to realize that it is parochial.  Maybe I am the only one to recognize this. I just hope and pray that this fault doesn’t end up causing conflict.