The Journal of John Proctor

To think that all used to be good and well in this village until Parris’ family and some of their friends decide to play with the devil and bring him to our village. All of those girls should be ashamed of themselves as they all had an effort in bringing the devil to us all. And to hear that Abigail is associated with this just makes me care less of her.

From what I’ve been hearing from around town, Parris discovered his daughter, niece, and several other girls dancing in the woods conjuring up spirits.

Now his daughter Betty has fallen asleep for quite sometime and hasn’t woken since. It just goes to show you that there’s in fact witchcraft upon those girls. If it weren’t for them fooling around in the woods late at night, the whole village probably wouldn’t be in such a big scare.

Knowing Parris, he’s probably going to do something in order to keep his name from being tarnished as much as it already is. Him and his family are nothing but trouble. Since they’re most likely the source of the devil coming to Salem, I’m gonna have to do my best to protect my wife Mary. The other men of the village must do the same. No one is safe with the devil lurking around. This all just goes right back to Abigail, Betty, and those girls just fooling around in the woods. If they were within the confinements of the village, this wouldn’t be such a problem.

Just a while ago, Abigail appeared on my doorstep. We struck up a conversation. An awkward one to say the least. She went on and on about our previous relationship. It truly struck a nerve to me. She wants to be with me once again, but I was weak and had an affair against my own wife. Mary was very discouraged when she learned of the news. I then made a promise to myself that I would never allow Abigail to deceive me again and that I would be true and honest to Elizabeth.

It truly ticks me when Abigail forces herself onto me and reminisce about the past. She even had the nerve to say that I got nervous around her. Though there were times that I did indeed feel that way, she doesn’t have the right to say that. She’s a mischievous child. Nothing more, nothing less. I even told her that, which made her very uneasy. I do regret what I stated in some ways, but I stand by my word. I do not wish to live with a child like Abigail for the rest of my life. A woman like Elizabeth is for me. The argument between Abigail and me was nothing more than childish. How dare she come to my home and cling to me even though I’m a married man!

Now that I look back on it, Abigail isn’t all that bad. The fact that she is young only makes her more naive to the world. It’s a trait of her that quite honestly made me fall for her. Not to mention her beauty. She may carry her own kinds of trouble around, but she is a very tempting young lady. She may have her qualities that make her attractive, but I must stick to my wife. I married her for a reason. I was weak once, and I won’t be weak again by the same girl.

The trials for many of the women in Salem has begun. I’m very concerned now seeing how my wife has also been accused as a witch. I have to stand before the judges and prove my wife’s innocence before they convict her as guilty and execute her. I want to protect her and prove her innocent. If it seriously weren’t for Abigail and her friends fooling around in the woods, the devil wouldn’t be lurking around Salem, my wife wouldn’t be accused as a witch, and witches as a whole wouldn’t be a problem around here.

Judge Hathorne, Reverend Hale, and Deputy Governor Danforth reside in the meeting hall to discuss who is a witch and who isn’t. Hale proclaims himself to be an expert on witchcraft, which makes him the best candidate to survey an individual in order to find out whether or not they’re a witch. Danforth is a very strong and honest man, more than myself. He is convinced that he’s doing the right thing eliminating the witchcraft problem the way he’s doing it, even if it means executing innocent women. Hale very much hates witchcraft for he is a man of the Lord. His strong beliefs in Christianity make him the ideal man to eradicate the witches of Salem. He too proclaims himself to be knowledgeable in witchcraft. With the three of these men presiding to hear the many pleads of husbands of the women accused, they will all most likely go home absent a wife. I’m even more fearful of my wife because these men may very well see something inside her and have her executed. I’m not prepared to lose her!

For once in my life have I never felt a greater sense of fear until now. All because my wife may die today. Hopefully something turns for the better because I do not want to lose my wife. With the recent discovery of Elizabeth being pregnant, they will give her time to live and give birth before she is executed. This is somewhat good because Elizabeth gets to live for just a little longer, but it’s also bad because her death is inevitable. I can’t bear the thought of losing her. There’s got to be a way to protect her from dying.

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