From Minister to Monster
Reverend Parris is on the of the antagonists who fuels the hysteria in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. He is paranoid that he will lose his job if (witchcraft) is in his house. Reverend Samuel Parris a weak, paranoid and suspicious demagogue, Parris instigates the witchcraft panic when he finds his daughter and niece dancing in the woods with several other girls. Parris is continually beset with fears that others conspire against him. Reverend Parris is motivated by his need to maintain credibility and authority in the community. At first, he fears that he enemies will ruin him with the knowledge that there is witchcraft, and in his own home. However, Mr. Putnam suggests, “Let you take hold of it here. Wait for no one to charge you, declare it yourself. You have discovered witchcraft. He tells Parris that Parris can get in front of the accusations, so to speak, by claim that he, himself, has rotted out the source of the
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He does not undergo any significant change in his character and the qualities he presents. For Parris, the truth of the accusations of witchcraft in Salem is not an issue. Unlike Hale, Parris never doubts the virtue of his actions. He only begins to doubt the effects of his actions and to wonder about the consequences of his role in the trials as they might impact his personal safety and position.Parris becomes more insecure and paranoid as the play wares on. He has been instrumental in these witch trials by spreading gossip and accusing innocent people for his own benefit. Parris had many detractors from the beginning. His selfishness and favoritism rubbed men like Proctor the wrong way. By act 4 the general population of Salem was tired of the hysteria and thus tired of Parris. Reverend Parris, a selfish, hypocritical and petty man, once a prominent and wealthy minister of the community, is by Act 4 reduced to a financially broken man, disillusioned and