Quote from The Crucible

"They believe, in short, that they held in the steady hands the candle that would light the world." (p140)

The characters from both the Scarlet Letters and The Crucible are both very religious. They are both Puritans that don't really enjoy any entertainment and they both believe that they are responsible for the peace. The characters from The Crucible think they have the candle that would light the world and townspeople of Scarlet Letter think they are responsible for publicly condemn Hester to save others from committing the same crime.