Reverend Parris is a primary example of this behaviour which was motivated by his desire for earthly riches and his status in the ministry, and when confronted with the accusation of his niece engaging in witchcraft in the forest he stated ‘If you trafficked with spirits…I must know it now, for surely my enemies will…they will ruin me with it.’ Highlighting his greed and selfishness as he was only concerned about how the accusations reflected on him as it would adversely affect his reputation within the Salem society, as displayed by the quote ‘Oh, Abigail what proper payment for my charity! Now I am undone.’ Yet his underhanded personality does not appear to the others visiting in the town, because he appears as a good citizen.Ī natural human instinct is to protect one’s reputation within society by suppressing the truth. All in all, Parris’ greed, which plays in with other actions, brings out other emotions and voices that often make this particular character look bad. It also displays to the reader that Parris might do things simply because he is greedy, or because he has ulterior motives. His statement makes his character trait of greed extremely evident. This, again, shows that Parris wants the comfort of living in affluence, while having the power of being a minister. Parris responds to this remark by saying, “Man! Don’t a minister deserve a house to live in?” (Miller 30). Another example of Parris’ greed arises not long after the conversation on wood, when Proctor mentions that Parris is the first minister of many to request a deed to the house that he lives in. Parris left Barbados rich and supposedly fits the heroic and charitable image, he still yearns to be wealthy, as well as have power over the town at the same time. Proctor! I am not some preaching farmer with a book under my arm I am a graduate of Harvard College” (Miller, 29). He says that “The salary is sixty six pound, Mr. 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 allowed to be supplied with, as he wants more for firewood. 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. Parris, mostly at the beginning, allows his first character trait of greed to show.
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