The Deputy Governor promise hangin’ if they’ll not confess, John. The town’s gone wild, I think. She speak of Abigail, and I thought she were a saint, to hear her. Abigail brings the other girls into the court, and where she walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel. And folks are brought before them, and if they scream and howl and fall to the floor – the person’s clapped in the jail for bewitchin’ them.
– Arthur Miller
The Crucible, Act 2. Elizabeth quotes Mary Warren on how Abigail is seen as a prophet since she confessed. In a simile, Abby is compared to a saint. Using another simile "like the sea for Israel," Mary Warren describes how the crowds part for Abigail whenever she leads the other girls into court to give evidence. This is an allusion to a story from the Book of Exodus about Moses using his power to part the Red Sea for the Israelites to cross. The hysteria of the witchcraft trials is evident here in a town "gone wild" and where the accused are given the choice: confess or be hanged! Justic1e in the Salem trials means confessing or be put to death. Even if you’re innocent, you must confess to avoid being hanged