Character Analysis of Reverend Parris
Character Analysis of Reverend Parris
If it were not because of the self-preserving and greedy nature, also the paranoia of the people in Salem, the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 would most likely not have occurred. One of those people is Reverend Parris, who is the minister of the church in The Crucible. All Reverend Parris cares about is his reputation/good name and the amount of wealth he has. He is paranoid that there is a faction of townspeople that are trying to get him thrown out of his position. Because of his need to preserve his good name he goes along with the false proceedings of the witch trials. In the end he starts to doubt the trials for the same reason. He also suppresses evidence that would have discredited the court, but instead the court becomes stronger and make is impossible to stop. Reverend Parris
One of Parris’s only concerns is the preservation of his good name in the town of Salem. When he discovers Betty, his daughter, and his niece, Abigail Williams, dancing in the woods, he knows that it will make him look bad in the eyes of his congregation and they will lose respect for him. As he says to Abigail,” I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff necked people to me, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character." (pg.11) He does not want the actions of his foolish daughter and niece to destroy the work that he has put in for years to be ruined because his daughter and niece’s foolish action.
Parris is also a self-centered, greedy man who only looks out for numero uno, himself. For example, he gets into a quarrel with John Proctor about having to pay six pounds on fire wood when he gets paid a yearly salary of sixty six pounds, “I regard that six pound as part of my salary. I am paid little enough without I spend six pound on fire wood.” In addition, He also claims that someone of his esteemed credentials (graduating from Harvard College) would get paid much more than he
If it were not because of the self-preserving and greedy nature, also the paranoia of the people in Salem, the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 would most likely not have occurred. One of those people is Reverend Parris, who is the minister of the church in The Crucible. All Reverend Parris cares about is his reputation/good name and the amount of wealth he has. He is paranoid that there is a faction of townspeople that are trying to get him thrown out of his position. Because of his need to preserve his good name he goes along with the false proceedings of the witch trials. In the end he starts to doubt the trials for the same reason. He also suppresses evidence that would have discredited the court, but instead the court becomes stronger and make is impossible to stop. Reverend Parris
One of Parris’s only concerns is the preservation of his good name in the town of Salem. When he discovers Betty, his daughter, and his niece, Abigail Williams, dancing in the woods, he knows that it will make him look bad in the eyes of his congregation and they will lose respect for him. As he says to Abigail,” I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff necked people to me, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character." (pg.11) He does not want the actions of his foolish daughter and niece to destroy the work that he has put in for years to be ruined because his daughter and niece’s foolish action.
Parris is also a self-centered, greedy man who only looks out for numero uno, himself. For example, he gets into a quarrel with John Proctor about having to pay six pounds on fire wood when he gets paid a yearly salary of sixty six pounds, “I regard that six pound as part of my salary. I am paid little enough without I spend six pound on fire wood.” In addition, He also claims that someone of his esteemed credentials (graduating from Harvard College) would get paid much more than he