The Salem Witch Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

In the 1600s Puritans from England came to North America to start a new life where they could have religious freedom and practice their faith as they saw was best. Many of them settled in small towns in Massachusetts in which they started families, businesses, and close communities. They had very strong beliefs and ideals of how a good Puritan was supposed to be for example: they had to attend church regularly, consistently read the bible, and never disrespect God’s name or commit disrespectful acts, that are considered sins. The Crucible takes place in the late 1600s in Salem, Massachusetts. Reverend Parris was the Minister of the Salem church and he had an active role in the community. He was a very misunderstood man simply because he wanted

When Susanna came and told him that “the doctor could not find a cure for it in his books”, he would tell her to keep looking (Act I. i). He even confronted his own niece and said “Abigail, I cannot go before the congregation when I know you have not opened with me. What did you do with her in the forest?”(Miller 25). Parris would persistently ask questions and demand complete answers. He questioned many of the other girls to understand what was going on. He asked his friends, whom had daughters who were behaving the same way, and to help him on what he should do about his own daughter . This proves that he was a devoted, loving, and caring father, uncle, and reverend. He was so determined to fix what was going on that he called for extra help from Reverend Hale and as many people as he could

When he first found out that his own daughter was involved in practicing witchcraft he was afraid to tell the community because he did not want to ruin the reputations of himself and his future generations. He was a very thoughtful man and he always thought about Salem first and how the witch hysteria could possibly cause a disturbance to the general public since he did not fully understand what was going on. When Mr.Putnam was confronting Parris about witchcraft he said “I will lead them in a psalm, but let you say nothing of witchcraft yet. I will not discuss it. The cause is yet unknown. I have had enough contention since I came; I want no more” (Miller 29). When many of the accused were being executed, Parris wanted to postpone the hangings, to make sure that they had investigated every aspect that could be a possible cause, while Danforth refused. This shows his willingness to see every side of the story before making a final judgement. Parris tells Danforth “I would to God it were not so, Excellency, but these people have great weight yet in the town” (Miller