Argumentum ad Baculum, …show more content…
Abigail cried out to the lord, “Oh, Heavenly Father, take away this shadow!” and Proctor responded, “How do you call Heaven! Whore! Whore!” (109). Abigail asked the lord to save her from Mary's spirit, and Proctor reveals that he and Abigail had an affair, which has nothing to do with the subject at hand. Abigail attacked Mary as she proposed her statement, so Proctor decides to attack her by calling her a whore, which backfired on proctor for his sin on lechery. Another example of Argumentum ad Hominem is when Cheever brings up actions of Proctor’s designed to make Proctor look bad. Cheever says, “When we come to take his wife, he damned the court and ripped your warrant… He plow on Sunday, sir… I think it be evidence…” and Parris responded by saying, “Such a Christian that will not come to church but once in a month!” (__). Anything Proctor might say is tainted because now Danforth will suspect him of ulterior motives (overthrowing the court) or of being a poor Christian (plowing on Sunday) and he won’t be believed. Parris hopes for the same. He cannot afford to have Proctor believed, since Proctor is trying to discredit the girls, and that will hurt his reputation. Also, Parris said, “They’ve come to overthrow the court, sir!… Excellency, surely you cannot …show more content…
Martha Corey’s voice says, “I am innocent to a witch. I know not what a witch is” and Hathornes Voice replies, “How do you know, then, that you are not a witch” (83-84). Hawthorne is questioning Martha's conviction that she isn't a witch, when she claims she has no idea what a witch is. Another example of begging the question is when Parris says, “All innocent and Christian people are happy for the courts in Salem! These people are gloomy for it.” (__). Parris implies that everyone else is pleased with the way the trials are going—at least the innocent and Christian ones are. If Proctor is not happy with it, he must not be innocent and