Rev. Parris: Greed and Lies in The Crucible Anonymous 10th Grade

Human nature has a tendency, a fad if you will, to display traits of selfishness and a "me first, you later" attitude. This sort of thinking often leads people to do unjust or politically incorrect things, and it gets them in trouble with the law, the government, or other people. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible this sort of trait is shown by many characters, propelling the plot, and killing off more and more innocent people. No character displays this trait better than Reverend Parris, as throughout the script, every action that Parris makes is for a personal gain of some sort, or a level of self-preservation. Reverend Parris, in his acts of freed, self-preservation, and deceit, propels the plot and propels innocent people towards their deaths, all because he wishes to save his reputation and life.

Parris, mostly at the beginning, allows his first character trait of greed to show. This revelation establishes an important baseline, because it manifests his character type, and tells the reasons why he does the many actions he performs later in the play. One example of Parris’ greed is when Parris is speaking to a group of people -- Putnam, Proctor, Rebbecca Nurse, and Giles -- and makes reference to the money that he should be...