Reverend Parris
Reverend Parris is a typical human character with great amount of greed. During the first start of the witch hunt with the accusation of the girls dancing, Parris really didn’t care about his child’s health but really his reputation as a reverend. He did not want people to say that his child was a witch and jeopardize his position as the preacher in the town. His greed really shows even before the witch hunt. Upon the arrival of the town, he wanted to change the wooden candle sticks into gold ones. This really is the reason why members such as Rebecca nurse and John Proctor refused to go to the church on sundays.
Parris’s greed is shown during the court scenes as well. He is threatened by anyone who goes against the girls accusation. Again, when John Proctor came to the courtroom with people’s signatures that believed that Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth Proctor, and Martha Corey weren’t witches, he suggested that all these people are against the court and should be brought in to be questioned. Also, he tried to deny the fact that the girls had danced in the woods because the fact that the girls did might damage the credibility of the girls. Another instance of his greed is shown in the last scene of the play. When Parris finds out that Abigail was gone with all his fortune. He does not wish to tell anyone the fact because if the people knew that the saint who got rid of all the witches out of the town stole his uncle’s money and ran away, it would not only degrade Judge Danforth’s decisions, but it would also damage the reputation of the Reverend who was Abigail’s uncle and supporter. He is most dumbfounded and astonished not that she has vanished and spoken of lies, but that she has vanished and taken all his money. Only after that does he try to postpone the execution and try to save people by making them confess.
Parris’s greed is shown during the court scenes as well. He is threatened by anyone who goes against the girls accusation. Again, when John Proctor came to the courtroom with people’s signatures that believed that Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth Proctor, and Martha Corey weren’t witches, he suggested that all these people are against the court and should be brought in to be questioned. Also, he tried to deny the fact that the girls had danced in the woods because the fact that the girls did might damage the credibility of the girls. Another instance of his greed is shown in the last scene of the play. When Parris finds out that Abigail was gone with all his fortune. He does not wish to tell anyone the fact because if the people knew that the saint who got rid of all the witches out of the town stole his uncle’s money and ran away, it would not only degrade Judge Danforth’s decisions, but it would also damage the reputation of the Reverend who was Abigail’s uncle and supporter. He is most dumbfounded and astonished not that she has vanished and spoken of lies, but that she has vanished and taken all his money. Only after that does he try to postpone the execution and try to save people by making them confess.
Connecting to real life
The many people who have blurted out innocent people’s names in court is represented in The Crucible as Reverend Parris. Those people who have out of fear blurted out random people’s names have spread the trials and put innocent people to jail; however, many of these people have done it in fear of losing jobs and reputation. The refusal to name communist names in the court led to the person losing his or her job and being put into jail. Also, there was the chance of being sentenced to death as a communist government spy. So people, out of fear of that outcome, have gone with the court’s procedure to name other people’s names. Likewise, because Reverend Parris didn’t want his reputation to be ruined in the town, condemned anyone who went against the girl’s accusation and those who questioned the trails. However like Reverend Parris, those people who have named innocent people’s names feels regret and guilt in doing so. Likewise, Reverend Parris also in the very end of the play attempt to save people about to be hanged to falsely confess to save their lives.