In turn they are beaten, threatened, tortured (both physically and mentally), and manipulated through the polices misuse of power. A prime example of this misuse of power can be seen when Detective Dixon, threatens to kill his father. While pointing a gun to his head, he says Im gonna shoot your dad! leaving Gerry with no other choice than to make a false confession. In this scene, the abuse of power is enhanced by film techniques such as music and camera angles. The music is loud and tense, clearly reflecting the cruelty of the police, and a low shot on Gerry, emphasizes his lack of power and control in this situation. The abuse of power, cruelty and inhumanity is further shown in Pauls statement, made in court, They stuck a gun in mouth what was I supposed to do. Moreover in one of the scenes, we see through a little hole in a door the torture that is happening to Gerry and then we are given an image of a birthday cake with people singing happily. This juxtaposition gives us an exaggerated impression of the sadistic, uncaring nature of the police. .
The idea of social injustice is quite closely intertwined and overlaps with the idea of abuse of authority and power. A lot of the injustice done both in the play and in the movie is because of people abusing their power and positions. This can be seen as the characters with low-social standings are used as scapegoats as they have no power to defend themselves from the accusations. In The Crucible the first to be accused is Tituba, who is a negro slave woman who has no power in the society. Her inferiority can be seen through her demeanor both in speech and actions. The stage directions tell us that she falls to her knees and says no, no, dont hang Tituba! I tell him I dont desire to work for him, sir. Her inferiority, seen here leads her to be used as a scapegoat in order to save Parriss reputation. .
Likewise in In the Name of the Father the Guildford four, namely Paul, Gerry, Carole, Paddy, are accused of the bombings.