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Reverend Parris, the main character in The Crucible, is very frustrated when someone else told lies to him, whilst everyone else has believed in the person’s claim.
This discernible characteristic of Reverend Parris can be immediately found near the end of Act 1. Here, Parris refutes Abigail, her niece’s, claim on herself not conducting witchcraft with Tituba, his slave, in the woods, while Parris himself said that he had seen Abigail herself dancing in the woods, being naked.
ABIGAIL. She always sings her Barbados songs, and we dance.
PARRIS. I cannot blink what I saw, Abigail, for my enemies will not blink it… And I thought I saw —- someone naked running through the trees!
ABIGAIL, in terror: No one was naked! You mistake yourself, uncle!
PARRIS, with anger: I saw it! (10~11)
Parris has personally seen that Abigail, along with other women and his Barbadian slave, Tituba, dancing and conducting witchcraft in the words. However, Abigail strongly refutes Parris’ claim, saying that she was just having fun with the others and not conducting witchcraft and that she wasn’t even naked at that time! Parris now became enraged, being frustrated of Abigail’s lies, and forced her to tell the truth or else she would receive a punishment. This tone can be further verified when you listen to the dramatic reading of Act 1 at the 2:32 mark.
Another example of Parris being frustrated with lies can be seen near the end of Act 1. When Tituba arrived at the house, Abigail accused of her forcing her to drink blood in order to conjure up the dead spirits. Tituba also denies, just like what Abigail had done in the beginning of the drama, and Parris again forces Tituba to tell the truth or else she’ll be whipped to death.
TITUBA. I don’t compact with no Devil!
PARRIS. You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!
PUTNAM. This woman must be hanged! She must be taken and hanged! (42)
Want another example? Act two also has an example of someone being frustrated with something, but this time it’s not Reverend Parris or lies. This time, it’s Reverend Hale and John Proctor talking about the ongoing witch-hunt. They are frustrated about the ongoing witch-hunt as they thought it as unreasonable.
HALE, suspiciously: Why — why did you keep this?
PROCTOR: I never knew until tonight that the world is gone daft with this nonsense.
HALE: Nonsense! (65)
As you can see, many of us can be frustrated about something very serious, most commonly lies. My family also cannot accept any lies. In fact, they are just like Parris, being frustrated and furious when they realize that I was lying to them. In their opinion, it’s crucial for anyone to tell the truth, or else lies would severely belittle their trustworthiness, and this can be detrimental to your character! So the best thing to do is to simply tell the truth.
“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.” — George Washington
Photo by Maria Krisanova on Unsplash
WORK CITED
- Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Penguin, 2003.
- Marcum, Terea. The Crucible Act 1 Rehearsal Track. 2019.
Hey Eric, it is very interesting to see the comparison of your family to Parris. I think that many people dislike lying and that is why school educate children not to lie during a young age. But there could be time good to lie, but what are some moment that people could or could not? I think this is very important question to understand since people may have different opinion.
Hello Eric, I definitely agree where you said about Parris being frustrated with the lie that Abigail is giving(saying that no one was dancing naked in the woods). And I also definitely agree with the fact that “just simply tell the truth”, my family also doesn’t like lying, so even if I did something wrong, as long as my parents hear the truth, they won’t be mad, instead I’ll be forgiven! What are your thought about appropriate times to lie, since some lies are good lies, so the case of “simply tell the truth” doesn’t always stand. Also what are you’re thoughts about forcing someone to tell the truth? How would you know if someone is telling the truth or not? Would you threaten them like Parris did to Tituba? How would you do it differently?
Hi, Eric. After I read your blog, I like how you connect your parents and the character in the book, “In fact, they are just like Parris,” that is interesting, and I agree with your parents, they have a good point, but I have a question, Is your parents also not allowed you to tell lies to other people? For example, how about the stranger, you don’t want to tell them everything about you, didn’t you, and what if the truth hurts?