Authors and playwrights write their works intending for the audience to acknowledge a problem in their society. For example, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to express the conditions the United States is in. Fear quickly spread throughout the country due to citizens accusing each other of being a communist. Similar to the Red Scare, the citizens of Salem began accusing each other of witchcraft due to their own fears. On the other, Jodi Picoult’s purpose of Salem Falls is to entertain the audience. Picoult adjusts the story to adapt to the twenty-first century. Unlike the ending of Miller’s play, the film had a true ending. In both versions, the audience learns that religion corrupts the justice system; nevertheless, the film’s ending exemplifies that a society can overcome such conflict. Religious beliefs may be the cause of biased outcomes in the justice system. For instance, John Proctor, the main protagonist in Miller’s play, argues with Hale, “And why not, if they must hang for denyin’ it? There are them that will swear to anything before they’ll hang; have you never …show more content…
Particularly, Miller’s play does not a have a satisfying ending. The last dialogue of the play was Elizabeth Proctor crying out, “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!” (1334). Miller ended the play right after John was hung, so the audience has to infer or hypothesise what happened to the society. He leaves the audience feeling incomplete. However, because of the decade Picoult created the film in, Salem Falls has a real ending. Addie found out that Jack is innocent, and the reason Gillian accused him is because she is being sexually assaulted by her father. Because of Addie’s findings, Jack is dropped of all charges, and Mr. Duncan is arrested for sexually assaulting his own daughter and Addie when she was a teen. Unlike The Crucible, Salem Falls’ resolution satisfies the