I like the conclusion Arthur Miller writes for this play. It reminds me that principles, love, and moral conviction are stronger than any prison cell or courtroom proceeding.
Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought so, as the the trials ended shortly after those final hangings and those in prison were released. The picture of innocent people willing to die rather than sell their souls for a lie is a powerful one, and I'm confident it was a motivating force in closing this awful chapter in Salem's history.
I'm generally not a fan of movies made from these kinds of great books; however, this movie added a touch I thought was powerful--as the nooses were placed around their necks, they began to say the Lord's Prayer. One by one their voices stopped as they were hung. The echo of their prayer lingered in the silence of the crowd.
The only more satisfying ending I can think of is having the court not only pardon the accused but hold the accusers, both the overt (Abigail and others) and the covert (Putnam and Parris), accountable for their actions. The town, now humbled and disgraced, would no longer see itself as a place of spiritual superiority but as a town full of sinners in need of saving.
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