The Role Of Reverend Parris As A Minister

Reverend Parris’s main motivation is to preserve his reputation at any cost, whether by unbelievable behavior or through falsehood. For example, when Reverend Parris discovers the girls dancing in the forest, he hastily warns Abigail that his reputation is in jeopardy by conveying, “Now look you, child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it” (10). Since Abigail is family, Parris has no tolerance when it comes to his reputation so he willingly enforces discipline to maintain his status. Also, as a minister, his role is

Reverend Samuel Parris- Parris is a widow in the mid 40’s. Parris is also considered a bad person in Salem. Parris is very greedy and selfish. Reputation is a big priority.

Reverend Samuel Parris is motivated to sustain his reputation because he took years to build up his name. Some of the folks already see him as unfit as the reverend. Having the assumption that there are sinful practices taking place under his roof, he, at first, denies the involvement of witchcraft with the odd behavior Betty displays. However, when a majority of the townspeople believe in the involvement of witchery. He does not want his name and reputation to be tarnished due to witchcraft, so he plays along and supports Betty’s and Abigail’s accusations. He uses Tituba as a scapegoat to divert the suspicion towards him. Parris threatens to whip Tituba if she does not confess that she has dealings with the Devil, and pushes her to her breaking point. Parris is motivated to uphold his reputation and tries to divert the possible blame and suspicion towards him to

As a struggling minister with a generally low-public opinion by the residents of Salem, the trials filled Parris’ meetinghouse with distressed congregants looking for guidance and support to deal with the events overwhelming their community. Without the existence of the trials and the fear they induced, the conclusion can be drawn that Parris’ worries of possible ousting as town minister may have come true. (In fact, a few years after the end of the trials, when the villagers’ finally felt confident that their troubles with witchcraft were finished, Parris’ concerns proved legitimate when the town voted to oust him as their minister.)

Reverend Parris' motivation throughout the play is fear. He is fearful of what will happen since “witchcraft” is thought through Salem. (pressing in on her). Who? Who? Their names, their names!” This quote from the first act is Parris yelling at his slave Tituba because she will not

Both Parris and Proctor dislike each other and never agree. Because of this Proctor rarely attends the church services, and instead spends the days on his farm. A reason Proctor does not attend is that he disagrees with Parris’s morals and motivations. He feels that Parris is unholy and is going against their Puritan ways of teaching, “I see no light of God in that man. I'll not conceal it”(71). Parris is a great influence in the witch-hunt and is often expressing

One of the most important factors to consider is that during the 1690’s the church of Salem Village was conflicted about being too conservative, which caused a divide in the congregation. This division lead to social and political issues between the two groups. This rift resulted in presumably innocent people being accused of witchcraft. In 1689, Samuel Parris was invited by the Salem Village church committee to take over church services after the dismissal of George Burroughs. This was not the first time that a minister had been fired from the Salem Village church. Anthony Brandt deliberates a theological shift which occurred in the Salem Village in his piece “An Unholy Mess”. He writes the congregation had been in dispute over on whether they should become more like the progressive Half-Way Covenant, such as the church in Salem Town. This new theological approach would offer more community members a chance to become church members and would do away with the strict Calvinistic view of the “visible saints”. The concept of “visible saints” decreed that only certain members of the church were guaranteed entrance into heaven, could participate in Communion, and they sat special seating at service. Samuel Parris was a firm Calvinist Puritan and had no desire to see the church make such a reformist change. Parris in fact used this division to create a social divide among the four hundred villagers who had not been allowed membership into to the church or to be baptized. He

Due to the fact Salem focused on theology, Parris believed he stood above the

Preserving someones own reputation effects their behaviors negatively more often; though it mainly effects other people negatively. Reverend Parris states,“ . . . just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character”(1.150, Miller). In the story, Reverend Parris had a poor reputation for a while because he allowed Abigail Williams to live in home. Poeple felt that was not okay because she was known for having a bad wrap with John Proctor. Just as Reverend Parris’s reputation was getting better, Abigail threatened it by raising suspision in the town for witchcraft. This shows that people in Salem cared more about preserving their reputations.

Finally, Parris is a paranoid and fearful man. He thinks that everyone is out to get him and relieve him of his position as minister. He thinks that there is a faction within his church that wishes to overthrow him and would do anything to get him removed. He knows that if this faction discovers what his niece and daughter did it could lead him to be fired from his job, as he says to Thomas

In the beginning, Parris was portrayed as very cruel person. He yells at Tituba, “Out of here! Out of my sight!” (169). By the end of the play, he becomes more humble and modest. This can be seen especially when Abigail takes his money, “Hathorn: She have robbed you? Parris: Thirty-one pound is gone. I am penniless.” (231). Reverend Hale is also another person who drastically changed. When he arrives at Salem, he claims to be very smart and is able to save everyone from the devil and witchcraft. He starts to preach as soon as he gets there, “No, no. Now let me instruct you. We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise, the marks of his presence are definite as stone, and I must tell you all the I shall not proceed unless you are prepared to believe me if I should find no bruise of hell upon her.” (185). He becomes very different by the end of the play. He not has feelings of guilt for the people he accused. He also was starting to think that he was wrong about the devil and witchcraft. Hale tells his feelings to Elizabeth, “Let you not mistake you duty as I mistook my own… I cannot think he will listen to another.”

Reverend Parris’ fear of losing his job provokes him to cry witch. Reverend Parris’ daughter feigns to be in a coma. When the doctor bade Susanna tell Reverend Parris that he “might look to unnatural things for the cause of it” (9), he denies that possibility because he fears that rumors of witchcraft under his roof would help his “many enemies” (10) to drive him from his

Furthermore, in Act II, it is revealed that John Proctor attended mass scarcely because he hated Reverend Parris so much. His materialism (as proven with the gold candlesticks) was something that greatly bothered the town of Salem. In Act IV, Reverend Parris is humbled. Having been robbed by Abigail and her friend, Mercy Lewis, he is almost penniless, and thereby modest and sorrowful. He does not talk with the same biting command as he used to.

“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 Salem having a good Christian reputation is vital, as any degree of bad social standing indicates opposition to and potential ostracization in the absolute good vs absolute evil theocratic system, therefore many individuals immorally twist their faith in order to maintain their reputation. Hale, a Christian reverend of Salem, states that one has to have a perfect standing as a devout Christian as no “crack in a fortress may be accounted small” in Christian faith (p.67). Then Danforth, the highest official of the law, argues that a person is either “with this court or he must be counted against it” - no grey-zone exists for good and bad. If your reputation can’t be considered absolutely good, then you will be considered absolutely bad. Therefore, at the beginning of the play, Parris panics when he discovers his daughter Betty appears sick, as potential rumors of witchcraft would ruin his reputation and strip away his position as reverend. This constant paranoia concerning reputation has twisted effects, as it makes Parris first prioritize his ministry and then