The Crucible Character Analysis

Rev Parris was a merchant before he became a minister and it was obvious that he still had a love for money. Instead of worrying and caring for his daughter who was “sick” he was arguing with his members about his ministers salary . John Proctor didn’t have much respect for Rev Parris because when Parris came to Salem he wanted golden candlesticks instead of the perfectly good ones they had. For twenty weeks he preached nothing but golden candlesticks until he got them.

On the other hand, Parris tries to use rules from the church to show how Proctor is not really a Christian. Parris says,“Such a Christian that will not come to church but once in a month” (Miller 84). Because Proctor is being accused for not being a true Christian, Parris mentions that he is a Christian that does not even go to church, telling him that he does not follow the rules of the church and could cost him his life, and could eventually lead to accusations of being a witch. Both Elizabeth and Parris portray ways in which they have knowledge about the church, but have different ideas and thoughts towards the Bible, which could cost them their lives. In addition, taking advantage of people using fear is a factor to the contribution of

The author of the play says in his notes that he found nothing redeemable about the historical Parris. As a result, he felt no need to make the fictional one in the story any better. John Proctor accuses Parris of being greedy in the play several times. The Reverend gives

In “The Crucible” the most valuable asset to a Puritans is reputation, and how good of a Christian they are. But both these meant nothing when it came to accusations of witchcraft, those accused were automatically guilty because there never was a way to prove whether they were a witch or not. For the sake of his friend's reputations and his, John Proctor had refused to sign a false confession. John rather die, than lie to everyone and have his named badly marked in the community. It was for his reputation that Reverend Samuel Parris chose to stick with the accusations, even though he finds out that it was a lie. In the book, we see how different and similar both these characters are, both being religious and caring about their reputations. They see themselves as authoritative figures, Parris ruling the town and Proctor ruling his home. But they are very different, always challenging each other and on opposite sides during the trails. Proctor ends up fighting for his life and Parris losing everything he loves.

At the beginning of the play, John Proctor was an arrogant, self-absorbed man who only cared about himself and his own needs. He did all those actions without any regard towards the people who might be affected by his actions. The quote says, “Parris: There is a party in this church; there is a faction and a party. Proctor: Against you? Putnam: Against him and all authority! Proctor: Why, then I must find it and join it.” (Miller 278)This was during the time when Proctor, Parris, and the others

In The Crucible, Miller too created a character that would stand against authority; John Proctor. When Proctor is questioned as to why he has not been to church in so long, he admits that he has ill feelings towards Parris and the way that Parris gives sermons. Proctor does not like authority, and since Parris talks as though he is an authority figure, Proctor has an issue with this. Proctor is very critical over representatives of authority. Proctor changes from a timid character held in bondage by his sin, to a strong, righteous man who will die for the truth. This drastic change in his character is the basis of his significance to the outcome of the play. When faced with the prospect of either confessing to something he didn’t do, or dying, he tells judge Danforth that he cannot have his confession and name nailed to the church door because it would betray his friends who have already died for the truth. When Danforth refutes this, John says, “Beguile me not! I blacken all of them when this is nailed to the church the very day they hang for silence!” (143). Proctor seizes the power back from those who are misusing it, simply by refusing to be a part of the false confessions. The unyielding faith of Proctor’s wife, the influence of the people who share his beliefs and his triumph over an inner struggle help him make a decision that he believes will finally set him free from his past.

In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the characters John Proctor and Reverend Parris are some of the major characters during the course of the play. John Proctor is a farmer in Salem that lives in the outskirts of town, and is religious like the rest of Salem but rarely makes it to the church due to living far away have having large amounts of work. He is seen as strong and confident by most town members, however “Proctor… has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud” (Miller 20-21). Reverend Parris is Salem’s religious leader. While he does regularly speak to the entire town, he has very little confidence and “believed he was being persecuted wherever he went, despite his best efforts to win people and God over to his side” (Miller 3). By comparing and contrasting both Parris and Proctor’s actions and beliefs throughout the play, underlying truths regarding self-realization and the consequences of our actions can be discovered.

Proctors the entire visit for any form of evidence that he could associate with the traits of

To everyone Parris was a good man, he was a Pastor. In Act I he speaks to his niece Abigail and says to her, “Abigail, I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character. I have given you a home, child. I have put clothes upon your back—now give me an upright answer. Your name in the town—it is entirely white, is it not? (Parris 63)” Parris can’t believe what he is hearing in the town that Abigail was out in the woods dancing and trying to conjure spirits. He has been keeping his name clean for many years and now Abigail might mess that up so he tries to tell Abigail that she needs to stop. In Act III Parris tries to accuse Proctor of being un-Christian because he dislikes Proctor. He states, “Such a Christian that will not come to church but once in a month (Parris 116).” Proctor is trying to get the attention off of his niece so that his good name will not be soiled by her wrongdoing. He would rather accuse Proctor of being un-Christian than see his good name be destroyed. In Act IV Proctor is about to sign a paper that states that he was the one who was dealing with the devil, even though he wasn’t just so he could save his wife. Parris is yelling at Danforth, “I will strike the village that Proctor confess. Let him sign it. Let him sign it (Parris

One characteristic of the tragic hero, which John Proctor possesses, is that he is a man of stature. This is evident from the very beginning of the play in the exposition about Proctor. The author says, “He was a kind man-powerful of body, even tempered and not easily led”(20). He goes on to say that he has a “quiet confidence and an unexpressed hidden force”(21). He is well respected in the community and Mr. Parris, the town Reverend, goes as far as to say that he has “followers”(30). Also, at the end of the play Parris and Danforth want to post his confession of being in league with the devil on the Church door because “It is a weighty name”(141). They feel that since Proctor is such a respected member of the community that his confession will restore the people’s confidence in the court and urge others to confess.

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, it takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during colonial America. Throughout the story a group of girls makes accusations a mass of people of practicing witchcraft, one of the worst crimes to commit during that period, and people are being sentenced to hang for denying witchery. In the Crucible there are many lessons that Arthur Miller wants to teach you. To me a lot of the lessons that were taught in this story are important but I feel like one of them is the most important. Arthur Miller demonstrates that one of the lessons implied in the story is people’s character and how it affects those people and others. Examples of character are Giles Corey, John Proctor, Abigail Williams.

Another conflict in the play is between Parris and John Proctor. Although it didn’t directly lead to someone being hung, John was still eventually hung. Parris holds multiple grudges against John, one of them being that John hadn’t gone to church and that his youngest son wasn’t baptized. John says the reason that he didn’t baptize his son because he didn’t like Parris. He also said the reason that he didn’t go to church was because the service was boring, sad and depressing. Although at the end, before John was hung, Parris wanted John to confess to save his life because he started to realize that Abby was lying about everything. In the end, Parris realizes that it wasn’t worth holding onto the grudge.

John Proctor and Reverend Hale are similar characters in the way they are very prideful people and start doubting the authority of others as the events unfold throughout the play. John Proctor is a very prideful character who values his reputation. He believes he is above others in the way he mocks Reverend Parris, after Parris says there is a faction against him he says “Why, then I must find it and join it” (Miller, Act I, 31). Proctor sarcastic statement shows how he believes he can mock others and show authority over Parris.

“There is a fraction sworn to drive me from my pulpit. Do you understand?” these words ‘do you understand’ give off the impression that Parris is trying to convince himself of this fact rather than explain it to Abigail. It also shows why Parris wants revenge, as it explains that some of the villagers literally do not like him. The individual on the other hand who Parris seeks his settling of scores with is John Proctor, as he does not respect Parris as a reverend. Parris’s dislike towards Proctor clearly is empathised in act three, which is set in the courtroom. Made known by Parris’s subtle comments about Proctor, such like “Beware this man, your Excellency, this man is mischief” and “He’s come to overthrow the court, your Honour.” Both these comments convey the idea that Parris is strongly trying to get his thoughts about Proctor across. This proposal shows through the words ‘Excellency’ and ‘Honour’ that Parris is trying to get the attention of Judge Hathorne as he directs theses comments straight to him. Parris’s revenge towards Proctor is clear once he expresses that John is not a good Christian, as he does not attain church regularly. This observation, which Parris has made, is one of the main reasons to why Parris reacts to Proctor in the ways he does. This revenge is not as strong as Abigail’s and Proctor’s, although it is

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Reverend Parris is a character in the play that is very static. His character does not evolve in many ways during the course of the play. By the end of the play, Reverend Parris is still selfish, stubborn, and greedy. However, one of his most prominent flaws at the begging of the play is his selfishness.