The deterioration of Salem's social structure has precipitated the murder of many innocent people. Arthur Miller's depiction of the Salem witch trials, The Crucible, deals with a community that initially seems tightly knit and church-loving. It turns out that once Tituba starts pointing fingers at witches, the community starts pointing fingers at each other. Hysteria and hidden agendas break down the social structure and so everyone has to protect themselves from the people they think are their friends. The unity of the community, church and legal system died so that children could protect the social status of their families. Isolation from any other group of people with different beliefs created a puritanical church-led society that was unable to accept much change. The church was against the devil, but at the same time it was against things like dancing and other premature acts. The family's reputation was very important to community members. When the girls were caught dancing in the woods, they lied to protect not only themselves but also their families' reputations. They claimed that the devil had taken them and influenced them to dance. The girls also said they saw members of the town being with the devil. A community living in a puritanical society like Salem could easily enter a chaotic state and have difficulty dealing with what it sees as the greatest form of evil. The Salem hysteria caused the community to lose faith in the spiritual beliefs they were trying to spread. apply strictly. The church lost many of its parishioners because the city's interest was now on Abigail because people wanted to know who would be named next. When the church attempted to excommunicate John Proctor, there were not enough people in the church to do so. The people allowed themselves to be deceived to the point of leaving a dagger stuck in the door of their minister's house: "this evening, when I open the door to leave the house, a dagger has fallen to the ground... There is danger for me" (128 ), were Parris' exact words. With the God-bearer fearing for his life there was no one left but Abigail to lead the community. The justice system is designed to protect the people it serves but during the trials the accused witch had two choices, death or incarceration..