There be so many cows wanderin’ the highroads, now their masters are in the jails, and much disagreement who they will belong to now. I know Mr. Parris be arguin’ with farmers all yesterday – there is great contention, sir, about the cows. Contention make him weep, sir; it were always a man that weep for contention.
– Arthur Miller
The Crucible, Act 4. The turmoil in the community and breakdown in social order caused by the witch trials is graphically illustrated by Ezekiel Cheever’s comments to the judges about the abandoned cattle. The many cows wandering the town’s roads, their owners in jail, are symbolic of the chaos and hysteria that have destroyed Salem.