In 1659 Salem made a man named Samuel Parris the Reverend in their town. He used to be a Merchant. The witch trials started in 1692 so he had 3 years to learn how to lead the town and failed because the job was mostly desired because of the pay. Reverend Parris always seemed to care the most about himself than anyone else in the town. It always seemed to be about his money and how high of a position he could have. Throughout the play and the witch trials you can tell how self-centered Parris really is. Reverend Parris has always been a character who cares more about his own reputation and his own well-being than anyone else in the play, possibly even more than he cares about his own daughter. In the first act of the play, you can tell just how self-centered Parris is and how scared he is about the chance of word getting out that witchcraft is in Salem and was found first in his house. He seems fearful for his position in Salem as Reverend. Also in Act one, Susanna Walcott returns to Parris from the Doctors with news about Betty, who is his daughter that her illness is related to unnatural causes and he is quick to tell everyone how there …show more content…
afterwards John Proctor and Mary Warren both say how there is no witchcraft in Salem. Parris then says how John is attempting to overthrow the court. Although Proctor says its all to free his wife. After that Judge Danforth questions John Proctor about his religious beliefs. He, Danforth was interested in the information offered by Parris, that Proctor only attends church once a month. It seems no matter what John Proctor says Parris wants him out of the court because he doesn’t want Proctor ruining the case even if the whole trial is false, because it ruins Parris’ higher up
Throughout the story, Reverend Parris is shown to be on edge when he speaks, often because he is afraid of what others might think, say, or do to him. An example of this is when Parris is speaking with Abigail and says, “But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it” (Page 10, Miller). This shows how Reverend Parris is afraid of what his enemies will do to him and his reputation. On page 14, Parris is shown to again be very frightful, as he says, “They will howl me out of Salem for such corruption in my house” (Page 14, Miller). He jumps to conclusions and assumes the worst that he will be thrown out of Salem, which characterizes him as fearful.
Reverend John Hale and John Proctor are the first to realize that the girls who started the accusations should be punished for their actions. Reverend Hale starts to change his belief when Mary Warren tells reveals that there is no witchcraft, and when the girls hear about this they start to turn against her. In the scene when John Proctor and Giles Corey are taken away into custody Hale says "I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!". Hale has now crossed a line between his old self who put all his faith into the court, to a man who has absolutely no respect for it. At first Reverend Hale leaves Salem, but returns to try and save as many of the accused as possible. While doing so, Hale tries to convince Elizabeth Proctor to get John Proctor To confess so that John doesn't die. Hale doesn't know yet but anyone who confesses will he sent to be
Parris nullifies Proctors testament by calling Proctor a bad Christian and tells the court how he never attends church anymore. Giles deposition turned against him because he was did not want to go against anyone else.
Reverend Parris is the character that initiates the hysteria of the Salem witch trials, in a community where authorities wasted no time minding the business of it's citizens, what should have been seen as teen frivolity was blown into one of the ugliest moments in American History. Parris sparks this by firstly acting on his own paranoia, which the reader would find in the introduction 'he believed he was being persecuted where ever he went';, and calling Reverend Hale in an attempt for self-preservation '….if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.'; This statement says a lot about the character of Reverend Parris: a greedy, power hungry man who is more concerned with his own reputation than the souls of his niece and daughter. He always acts on fear, a fear that he will lose his position of power in the community. Parris does not want the trials to end as a fraud because the scandal of having a lying daughter and niece would end his career in Salem.
John Proctor had broken some religious laws, including, working on the Sabbath day, adultery, and others, but witchcraft wasn 't one of them. John Proctor, though, was accused of witchcraft as a result of all the mass hysteria that had taken place. He, in fact, did not commit the crime of witchcraft though. John Proctor was urged to confess to doing the act of witchcraft and initially did. Reverend Hale had been asked to come to Salem to reconnoiter the area to see for sure if Lucifer was involved with the current events that had taken place. Reverend Hale soon realized all the lunacy that was taking place and began to suspect that the girls accusing everyone were pretending. His prediction was correct. When John Proctor was condemned, Reverend Hale was doing everything in his will power in order to persuade John to confess to witchcraft. If Mr. Proctor did this, he would be freed and his name would be written on the church. If he did not confess, though, he would be hanged by a noose. So this is why Reverend Hale urged John Proctor to
People are mad at Parris because of everything that is going on: “Tonight, when I open my door to leave my house- a dagger clattered to the ground” (Miller 1324). Parris, the town minister, is getting a lot of blame for all that has been going on lately in Salem. His neighbors wanted to prove a point of how angry they are by throwing a dagger at his door. Parris is a coward and is too afraid to just tell the truth about what happened in the woods that night with the girls. He is afraid his own name will be in parish, yet he is not worried about anyone else’s danger. The town has been torn apart with all of this witchcraft nonsense: “There be so many cows wanderin’ the highroads, now their masters are in jails, and much disagreement who they will belong to now” (Miller 1321). Animals are being left uncared for and are just running ransom through the streets. People are arguing about who they belong to, wanting to keep the animals for themselves. Neighbors are accusing each other of witchcraft, and causing a lot of trouble. The tension is high, with a deep craving of revenge. (PrepPh). Some accuse because they want to take over that persons land for their own, or they have a bad history with them and want them gone. No reason is a good reason because they are not solid facts, just false accusations. A fear of riots runs through the town. Salem is surely unraveling, along with everyone in it.
To begin with, Proctor was considered a strong person in the community, and he was respected for it. He was a handsome, hard-working, and revered man in the community. To the people of Salem, he was a dedicated farmer that had done nothing to blacken his family name. His attitude was “. . . even-tempered, and [he was] not easily lead. . .” by the rumors and hysteria surrounding Salem at the time of the witch accusations (Miller 21). When other were jumping to the conclusion of witchcraft and starting to fear, Proctor kept a realistic, skeptical look on the situation. Contrary to the ideas of the time, Proctor would miss church and openly disagree with Reverend Parris (Scheidt and Calandra). Despite this, he had a strong belief in God and followed his own moral standards more than strict rules the Puritan church set out at that time. He was revered in Salem as an honest man who always spoke his mind, and who had the ability to silence the hypocrites with his quick logic (Sparknotes Editors). Whenever Reverend Parris would try to tear Proctor down with criticism on his church attendance and Sunday activities, Proctor would always cou...
Reverend Samuel Parris is one character from "The Crucible" who changed drastically throughout the course of the play. In the beginni...
Parris and Danforth prioritize their reputations over John Proctor’s actual life. Hale does not care about his good name, but about the lives of the people in Salem and his guilt for partaking in the trials. Like Proctor, Parris, Hale, and Danforth are extremely flawed men. They all make unrighteous decisions that can be selfish. Unlike Proctor, though, these men place their own needs above the needs of the community. John Proctor has lived in Salem all his life and cares for the town and its citizens, whereas Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris, and Danforth are all outsiders to the town. They place themselves above the well-beings of the townspeople for the reason that they do not care if Salem is to be destroyed. Reverend Parris, Reverend Hale, and Deputy Governor Danforth’s yearn of John Proctor’s confession represents they only care for their own self-interests and not about what his confession could do for the town of
In terms of rebelling against Reverend Parris he doesn’t ‘…see no light of God in that man…’ it clearly tells us that Proctor has no trust in Parris at all and even not trusting a Reverend shows a sign of rebellion against the authority. As Parris is a Reverend it means he is a member of the Church and so has some authority over some people, however with Proctor he does not comply with what Parris tells him causing him to essentially rebel against the authority (the Church) by not baptising his third child because of Reverend Parris. But as well as that another reason why Proctor does not want Reverend Parris to baptise his third child is because of how selfish and prideful he is. ‘…I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you comprise my very character…’ this quote shows the type of character that Reverend Parris is, only caring about his reputation and his authority instead of looking after his family. He is more concerned about what happens to him and his position instead of his family, so we understand why John Proctor does not want his third child baptised by him as there is ‘…no light of God in that
First off, as people may argue that he is guilty our first piece of evidence of his innocence is that he was an ethical man throughout the play. By no means is Proctor ever afraid to tell you what was on his mind. In the beginning of the play John Proctor tells Parris why he was not at church recently, He said,”I have trouble enough without I come five miles to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore.” (Miller need page number) For someone to be that brutally honest to the man that holds the highest position or calling in the Puritan church just goes to show that he is willing to admit anything and everything. Keep in mind that is also the highest status in the town itself. It is equivalent to being the mayor of the town. Another piece of evidence that we found is when John realizes that he has to confess his sin of adultery to the courts, only to stop the madness that is occurring in Salem. He still had courage to admit to his wrong to people that hold
In the beginning of scene 1, we notice him positioned at his daughter (Betty) sick bed. Appearing sad at first people might be feel remorseful for him, but after a while we notice that he is just reminiscing and thinking about his reputation, unconsciously think about his daughters wellbeing , he is fearful of what the people of Salem will think about him and thinking about the consequences of there being witch craft in his household, he will be relinquished from his status as the minister of Salem textual evidence state,”parris (studies her, then nods, half convinced) Abigail, I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character”(crucible 144). This reveals that he is only worried and concerned about the respect he has gained and the concern he has about protecting
In Miller’s The Crucible, a prominent character introduced is Reverend Parris. As Salem’s minister, he has significant influence in the town’s court system. As a minister, it is one’s duty to live a life devoted to being a spiritual leader. However, Reverend Parris is far from being a minister and is not a true spiritual leader because of his greed, dishonesty, and reputation.
John Proctor was not only in a physical state of isolation in the jail, he is also in a mental isolation.There, he pondered what he had done, what he his life has come to, but most importantly, he wondered if telling the truth (that he and his wife did not commit witchery), was right. This is apparent when he is asked to admit to witchcraft after he had been in prison for months. As Judge Hathorne pressed John for his admittance to witchcraft, he asked Elizabeth what she wanted him to do, but his was still left uncertain when she responded, “I cannot judge you John” (Miller 135) He seemingly stands alone, with no definite answer. His wife will not tell him what to do, God has not told him when he cried out and he cannot seem to convince himself what is right. Finally, he screamed his false confession of witchcraft and signs the paper, thinking only of his life. But, then he realizes it is not this life that should matter, rather the everlasting life that his Puritanical religion promised him. All his darkened, lonely days showed him the truth of who he is, that he does “see some shred of goodness in John Proctor (...) enough to keep it from such dogs” (Miller 144). He knew that the judges and people of Salem could take away his name, his pride, and his family, but he was strong enough to recognise that they could not take away his
Throughout the play John Proctor was an honest man, as was his wife, Elizabeth until she was asked to testify against her husband about his affair. One thing that never changed about Proctor throughout the whole play was his willingness to stand for his beliefs. Time after time, he was bombarded with questions about why he didn't regularly attend church or why he didn't have one of his sons baptized. He answered these questions with integrity and questioned the ministry of Parris. No one in the town of Salem had done that before.