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Responsibility For The Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

669 Words3 Pages

Rachel Groome
Period 1
The Crucible
Many trials were held due to accusations of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. A few held more responsibility for the trials than others. In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, the Puritans of Salem were sometimes falsely accused or guilty of witchcraft. The characters that held most responsibility for the trials were Abigail Williams, Reverend Hale, and Reverend Parris. Abigail is a lying and self-preserved 17-year-old girl. She is always trying to hide her sins by blaming others. Abigail Williams and her friends Mercy Lewis, Ruth Putnam, a slave girl Tituba and Abigail's cousin Betty were dancing in the woods and doing witchcraft. Afterwards, Betty was in bed unconscious. Mary Warren, another friend of Abigail's …show more content…

He always worried that others wanted to take over his position as a minister and that John Proctor was the leader of those people. Parris made many enemies in the village which caused him to quickly sentence John Proctor and Giles Cory. Parris only cares about his reputation and tells Abigail that he “fought here three long years to bend [those] stiff-necked people to [himself], and now, just now when some good respect is rising for [him] in the parish, [Abigail] [compromises] [his] very character" because of her dancing in the woods (11). Still, Parris is all about his own reputation and his family’s. He supports the judges in exposing the witches because he fears some may accuse his family of witchcraft, therefore he distracts attention away from himself and his family by blaming others. When John Proctor says he is a Christian, Parris calls him out for “not [going] to church but once in a month” just so the attention was on Proctor and not himself (90). Many people believed that the court was wrong which set him up in more danger. He was never sorry for his sins, but only afraid of what would happen to him

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