Reverend Parris In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible the reader learns more about the Puritan society of the late 1600s. Reverend Parris, the town minister, is aghast when he found his niece and daughter in the woods dancing and conjuring spirits with their friends. His daughter, Betty, is now afflicted and unable to wake, which causes quite the ruckus in Salem, the town they live in, about what happened to the minister's daughter. Reverend Parris he fears that the people might deposition him if they hear that he discovered them dancing in the woods. It is ascertain that Reverend Parris faces many troubles in the town, with the possibility of any little iniquity causing his excommunication. Reverend Parris has a daughter, who has fallen ill. Many people had predilections on what happened to the minister’s daughter. However, almost all of the townspeople believe that witchcraft is the reason behind …show more content…
He now wants to save Proctor. Proctor is accused of witchcraft by his servant, Mary Warren. “Excellency, I would postpone the hanging’s for a time” (Applebee et al 232). Parris is trying to get more time for John Proctor and all of the innocent people that were accused of witchcraft by his wretched niece and her friends. He realizes that they were lying the whole time and everyone they accused was innocent to the crime of witchcraft. “It is a great service, sir. It is a weighty name; it will strike the village that Proctor confess. I beg you, let him sign it. The sun is up excellency” (Applebee et al 239). Parris says this to Judge Danforth to try to convince him to let Proctor go and not go through with any of the hangings that they are supposed to do. But not that they already hanged people for the crime of witchcraft they had to go through with the executions. Reverend Parris his not high enough in the court system to convince the judge that Proctor is
In the late 1600s, early 1700s in Salem there is a seventeen year old girl named Abigail Williams, who is accused by her uncle, Reverend Parris, that he had seen her and a few others dancing and running naked in the woods (Miller, 1131). This information is the basis of the beginning of the play, The Crucible, that is written by Arthur Miller. He illustrates, a time when people lived as Puritans and were blamed of practicing witchcraft, which was considered a serious issue and many were put in prison, punished, and or put to death because of it. Knowing that practicing witchcraft can lead to one's death many accused citizens would do anything to save themselves. This leads into people having, APD, also known as antisocial personality disorder,
He feared if the truth got out that he would lose his status, his power, his strength. To escape this feeling, rather than face the truth, he lied and went along with the story that the girls were “possessed”. Now Reverend Parris feared embarrassment, awkward of ashamed feeling. But is does not compare to the fear of your life. This led to the “confessions” that were lies.
In the drama, “The Crucible”, the story of the Salem Witch Trials takes place. Many are to blame for this tragedy and among them is Reverend Samuel Parris. Reverend Parris is to blame for making the trials worse and not helping at all to stop the situation simply because he cares for nothing other than his reputation with the community. He has been Revered for many towns before Salem and every time he goes to a new town, he ends up leaving because nobody likes him. He lied to the court to protect his name, he talks about nothing other than the damnation of hell in church, and he refuses anything other than golden candlesticks upon his lectern.
This quote is another example of an ad hominem attack. Proctor goes to court with Mary Warren to try to plead for Elizabeth’s innocence. Parris fears that Proctor will upset the trials which are giving a lot of power to himself and his church. Parris wants to do anything he can to make Proctor’s testimony less believable, so he uses an ad hominem attack. He attacks Proctor, saying that Proctor has come to overthrow the court, which is entirely unrelated to Proctor’s
Parris tells Danforth that “...Andover have thrown out the court, they say, and will have no part of witchcraft. There be a faction here, feeding on that news, and I tell you true, sir, I fear there will be riot here” (Miller 1220). Parris fears that a riot could occur in Salem if Proctor and Rebecca Nurse are to be hanged. The town would turn against him and the courts, causing him to lose his minister position and have to leave town. A confession from John Proctor would cause the townspeople not to rebel because Proctor’s life would be
Betty Parris’s great power throughout Act I can be seen by her ability to single handedly create chaos and hysteria within the town for her own personal gain. Her power can first be viewed after Susanna Walcott explains the possibility of a supernatural cause to Betty’s illness, leading Abigail to advise her Uncle about “the rumor of witchcraft [that] is all about: [She] thinks [he 'd] best go down and deny it [himself]. The parlor’s packed with people,sir” (10). This is the first hint that others in the town believe in the presence and of the beginnings of the hysteria that follows.
Reputation is something that can be left to linger around, haunting people 's lives for years. In the Crucible, Reverend Parris feels the effects of reputation first hand. Parris is a godly man who wants nothing more than to preserve his image. Parris’s motives are portrayed throughout the story when he catches his niece and daughter dancing the woods, a sign of witchcraft. Yet, after this he is more concerned with how he is being viewed instead of their well being.
In The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, he writes about a story of witches in Salem, Massachusetts. The play is about a group of young girls who control the village with the fake pretense of having seen the devil and who he has worked with John Proctor and Reverend Parris are two characters within the play who both have similar experiences to each other. The story teaches us that different actions lead to different circumstances. Reverend Parris is the uncle of abigail, one of the girls in the wood who chanted.
As Bob Marley once said, “The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.” Integrity is the quality of being honest and upholding one’s morals and principles. Living in a fast-paced and ever-changing society, human beings have come into contact with adversity and hardship all throughout history. Those who act with integrity during tough times have a major influence on those around them, and taking a stand and upholding ones’ beliefs and morals at great self sacrifice can inspire and encourage others to do the same. Arthur Miller’s 1953 play, The Crucible is a prime example of upholding integrity, and the characters within the play face difficult choices between doing
We often seen someone is only care about himself, they don’t care about others even their family and they always have excuse of it. Reverend Parris is a kind of this person. “The Crucible” is about the Salem witch trials. Starting with several young girls claim to be afflicted by witchcraft and then accuse people in the town of witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shapes Parris’s character as a very selfish person, and everything he did was to keep his good reputation in the village and to get rid of anyone against him, which drives him mad.
Parris is a very self-centered man and is very embedded in his place in the community. He is a preacher for the church of Salem and his niece and daughter have been “bewitched” or so he thinks. Parris believes what he does is just and that no one should oppose him. This is also why he refuses to let news about his niece and daughter get out, he doesn’t want people to overthrow his position. Parris is a static character due to his nature of unchanging personality wise throughout the crucible, he is always self-centered.
(Miller 119). Accusations of witchcraft result in hangings and as these hangings go on, Parris becomes more and more threatened. The worry in in his mind is not focused on the possibility of innocent’s deaths, it is focused on
Reverend Parris shows the first example of the importance of reputation in the Salem. In Act I, lines 63-66, Parris discovers the girls dancing in the forest; he recognizes the threat of witchcraft that has formed in his
Parris says,”’ He’s come to overthrow this court, your Honor”’ (Miller 185). Reverend Parris is convincing Judge Danforth, that John Proctor is trying to dismantle the court, but John is only there to save the lives of those on trial. Marlow wrote, “Parris is evident in the stage directions where we first see Parris encounter his niece and are directly informed that she is glamorous and a compulsive liar” (1). Marlow is saying how Reverend Parris knows Abigail is a compulsive liar, but he believes her anyway.
Reverend Parris was in a position of power as the town 's spiritual leader, but he was insecure about his authority. He was willing to say and do whatever it takes to retain control. He was obsessed with maintaining his power because he wasn’t brave enough. We knew that Parris was consistently preaching hellfire before the incident of the girls practicing witchcraft in the forest. He demanded more money and acted as if he deserved more.