DANFORTH: Will you confess yourself befouled with Hell, or do you keep that black allegiance yet? What say you?
PROCTOR: I say – I say – God is dead!
– Arthur Miller
The Crucible, Act 3. Danforth attempts to coerce John Proctor into confessing that he is working with the Devil, and John makes the shocking reply that God is dead. This is a reference to the statement of controversial German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. But Proctor is not speaking in the literal sense. He is being sarcastic and ironic. He means that God isn’t in charge in Salem anymore and evil has taken over and the Devil reigns. John has lost faith in the Putitans’ God and their version of justice and morality. He is expressing his disgust at the corruption of the court and the so-called men of God who practice injustice, dishonesty and unfairness.