The Crucible p. 129-end (I LOVED this book D=)

"I will not receive a single plea for pardon or postponement. Them that will not confess will hang... Postponement now speaks a floundering on my part; reprieve or pardon must cast doubt upon the guilt that died till now" (129).

Danforth is terrified. He thinks that, the moment he makes a move that may be even slightly translated into doubt on one of the accused's guilt, he will be pulled from the court and his name will be tarnished. It can be compared to Proctor's fear, except Danforth is a judge, and so his name has a more respectful connotation to it. Danforth's ruined name would ruin him as a person. He would not be allowed to go on as a judge, and he would be forced to find a new profession, earning less income. He has a reason behind his acting and the deaths of all of these people, although the reason is lackluster.

"Let you not mistake your duty as I mistook my own. I came into this villiage like a bridegroom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion; the very crowns of holy law I brought, and what I touched with my bright confidence, it died; and where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up... Life, woman, life is God's most precious gift; not principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it., I beg you, woman, prevail upon your husband to confess... it may well be God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride" (132).

Hale is making a good, valid point. Pride is the deadliest sin of all. However, this conflicts with the need to keep one's name clean. As we see in Proctor later, he grapples with this and chooses to die with his name as pure as it could be. Hale is criticizing himself very, very severely in this passage, and perhaps that was necessary and true. It is quiet hard to judge that severely outside of a person. Only Hale could say that about himself, because he saw each thing he touched turn to a disaster. Good, pious people called themselves instruments of the devil. Girls who had never held a position of power had the entire town on the tips of their accusing fingers. This predicament was not Hale's fault as he claims, because it would have happened anyway. Hale just happened to be the Reverend who took the case. His belief in witches did not help the situation, and by the time he spoke out against it, it was too late, and innocent women had been hanged.