Power Hungry In The Crucible

In The Crucible, Miller gradually reveals Reverend Parris’s persona as the play goes on. The definition of power-hungry is basically the gist of Reverend Parris’s character. Parris cares more about himself than others, even his own blood. In this play, one of Reverend Parris’s strongest qualities is being very religious, and religion was extremely strict with the Puritans in the 1600s.It is revealed in the play that Reverend Parris strictness was taken to the max because he “... [Rev. Parris] never conceived that the children were anything but thankful for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered, arms at the sides, and mouths shut until bidden to speak” (4). It can be interpreted from that exert that he also ran a strict household, and was controlling over his daughter Betty. Puritans, including Reverend Parris, believed if you went against their religion or did not follow their rules perfectly that in Salem one “... may be accordingly proceeded against” (5). This means you could be sentenced in jail for not being religious enough. Additionally, a primary trait of Reverend Parris is that he was power-hungry, meaning he lusted the role of being in charge of Salem. It was also revealed in the text that he was a people pleaser for “...he believed he was

The Reverend made sure to point out that he is a “Harvard graduate,” which is rare because education was not as common in the 1600s as it is it today’s time. Parris also said that, “[w]e can not leap to witchcraft. They will howl me out of Salem for such corruption in my house” (14) which proves that he cares more about his standing with the public and that he is egotistical because he is only worried about this than the health of his own