There is a murdering witch among us, bound to keep herself in the dark. Let your enemies make of it what they will, you cannot blink it more.
– Arthur Miller
The Crucible, Act 1. As Thomas Putnam says this to the Reverend Parris, the stage directions describe a "frantic terror rising" in the minister. The Putnams bear a lot of responsibility for the witchcraft hysteria surrounding the events in the forest with the girls and the two children’s mysterious illness. As far as Thomas Putnam is concerned, and he wields a lot of power in the town, a "murdering witch" and not natural causes is behind it all. The stage becomes set for Salem’s great battle between good and evil, which will result in the unjust condemnation and hanging of many innocent citizens.