There are several examples of "guilt by association" in
Act Three of The Crucible. The first comes when Proctor and his
friends present a petition to the courts, where close to one hundred townspeople signed
their names, asserting that the arrested women were not witches, but instead righteous,
god-fearing people. The courts, instead of being impressed that so many people were
willing to testify to the good nature of the accused, instead assume that they must also
be guilty and covering for the witches. They think it is some sort of scheme to get the
guilty women out of jail and back causing havoc in the town. So, they arrest all of the
people that signed the petition.
The second example is the
unnamed witness that declares he heard Thomas Putnam say that he had prompted his
daughter to accuse a man of being a witch, simply so that he could buy up that man's
land. Instead of believing the witness's testimony, they assume that the man is lying,
and that he too should be questioned. To top it all off, Giles Corey, who presents the
information, is arrested too, merely for relaying the
information.
So, those are a couple blatant examples from
Act Two where innocents are assumed guilty simply because they associate and defend the
women and men who have been arrested. It is pretty sad. In these cases, none of the
accusations of guilt were valid or true. Now, if Giles Corey had been at the same party
where a bunch of witches had been performing spells, then maybe the entire "guilt by
association" theory would hold some credit, but in this case, there was no proof or
logical attachment to the actual guilty parties.
That can
help to get you started; good luck!
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