The Crucible Thomas Putnam Character Analysis

The population of Salem, MA in 1692 was roughly 600 people, and out of 600 people nearly 200 were accused and 20 executed because of the accusations. Thanks to these accusations 1 out of every 3 people in Salem, MA was called a witch. In the story “The Crucible” it is evident that Abigail Williams did play a significant part in these accusations, yet she does not carry the most amount of blame like your book suggests. Your book has all the evidence that Thomas Putnam is the most responsible. Thomas Putnam’s desire for land and complete lack of Puritan values and morals is the largest contributor to the 20 deaths that plagued Salem.
The actions of Thomas Putnam were cowardly and spineless. Thanks to his greed for land 20 innocent people were murdered unjustifiably. Putnam’s greed was shown when Thomas stated “That tract is in my bounds, it’s in my bounds” (Miller 1228). Putnam knew that land wasn’t his, so he lied to try and get it, to bad for Putnam that John Proctor

and Giles Corey knew the land wasn’t his. It shows his ruthlessness, and that he will do whatever he can to get land. So, it is not surprising when later in the story Judge Danforth states “He states that you coldly prompted your daughter to cry witchery upon George Jacobs” (Miller 1253). Of course Thomas Putnam denies it to protect himself. He forced his own daughter to accuse an innocent man of a crime he did not commit, and Putnam was well aware that he had not committed. However, you can’t keep your land if you’re accused of being a witch, and that is how Putnam was going to get his land. Puritan values such as honesty mean nothing to him. It is a big deal to lie in Puritan society so what does he do, he gets his little girl to lie for him. He should value his daughter’s life and want her to be innocent and go to heaven, especially since he claims “I have but one child left of eight” (Miller 1227). If you have but one daughter left, a good person would want to protect their child and shield her from any harm or evil, not push her toward it like a deranged madman.
His guilt should be evident when he single handedly killed 2 people and many more as a result of his actions. Giles was one of the few that saw Thomas Putnam’s conniving actions. Giles lacked the evidence to convict Putnam, but still brought it to the attention to the judges saying “This man is killing his neighbors for their land” (Miller 1253). Thanks to these actions Giles was killed, but not just killed, tortured by method of pressing, all by the hands of Putnam.
Some may point out that Thomas Putnam was merely capitalizing on the awful situation like buying up his neighbors’ land that were accused and was not the guiltiest out of all the citizens of Salem, yet he did much more than capitalize on it, he extended it and pushed it past its limits like accusing neighbors that he knew did nothing wrong.

It is one thing to simply sit back and watch and not do anything like most citizens of Salem, but it’s a completely different when you act with bad intentions and make the situation even worse. Everyone else in Salem was as innocent as children compared to Thomas Putnam and his greed for land and his ruthlessness to get it by throwing anybody he wanted under the bus.
The truth may never fully come out, but to think Abigail Williams is the sole reason for blame is silly. Out of all the actions of the citizens of Salem, Thomas Putnam’s are the guiltiest. Thanks you for your time and I hope you see my point that this is just as much if not more Thomas Putnam’s

fault.

Yours truly,