Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers? I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem – vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrant’s vengeance! I’ll not give my wife to vengeance!
– Arthur Miller
The Crucible, Act 2. John Proctor in this speech is the voice of common sense who rails at the injustice of the Puritan church and court system. He speaks out against the perversion of justice and climate of hysteria that exists. He criticizes the unquestioning acceptance of whatever Reverend Parris, Abigail and her band of child accusers say. In a metaphor “jangling the keys of the kingdom” he describes how power is now in the hands of “little crazy children” led by Abby. With Elizabeth arrested, Proctor personifies vengeance to claim that it is walking Salem and writing the law – his wife is being targeted by Abby out of a motive of revenge. The passage also features an example of a simile: “as clean as God’s fingers.”