Examples Of Greed In The Crucible

On October 9, 2014, nineteen year old Alan J. Hruby murdered his parents and sister in his own home. Investigators say that he committed this crime to become the “sole heir to [his] family’s money” (Keeping). Alan’s extreme desires overshadowed everything else in his life, including his own family’s well being. Although this example is extreme, greed is prevalent as a motivating factor in many other parts of life. People exhibiting greed will usually show a complete disregard to anything except their own desires. This selfish behavior is also present in The Crucible. Specifically, the characters Thomas Putnam, Abigail, and Parris, show an intense desire for land, love, and power respectively. In the Puritan society that these characters live

These characters are able to use these extreme standards of the theocracy to their advantage by accusing others to exercise their greed, creating mass hysteria in the form of the witch trials, thus showing no regard for human life. The intense pressure from the ideals of holiness, love, and forgiveness in Salem made its people vulnerable to hypocrisy. With a theocracy ruling Salem, church and government were inseparable. An accusation made about the government was taken as a condemnation against God, too. From a young age, children must “love [their] friends ... Hate no man. [And] forgive [their] enemies” in order to be good Christians (Literature of Colonial America). While the elders of the society are preaching this to their children, they are doing the exact opposite. Instead of forgiving their enemies, people in this society are trying to get revenge. This is most present in Abigail's actions. Abigail wishes for revenge against Elizabeth Proctor for “blackening [her] name in the village [and] telling lies about [her]” because of her affair with John (Miller 23). Instead of forgiving Elizabeth to be

In the delicate society created by the Puritans, greed has the power to wreak havoc. One example would be Abigail Williams. Ever since her affair with John Proctor, Abigail only thinks about him and is “waitin[g] for [him] every night” (Miller 22). Even though John consistently tells her that what happened between them is over, Abigail will not let it go. Her lust for John eclipses all inhibitions she may have, and gives her no second thought for charging witchcraft on Elizabeth. Even though Abigail knows that Elizabeth will be hanged in she is convicted, it is worth it to her because John will be hers. The only way she is able to exercise her greed though, is by manipulating the Great Chain of Being. This was the belief that everyone had their place in a “divinely planned hierarchical order” (The Renaissance). In the town of Salem and other Puritan societies, power over others and other religious authority was usually consistent with the Great Chain of Being. Children such as Abigail were usually very low in this hierarchy, and therefore were not able to exercise much power over others. By claiming that she was a victim of a religious crime, Abigail was able to bypass this chain and become more powerful than the adults in Salem. This is because they have less knowledge on it then her, so they must trust what