How Fear Motivates The Characters in Arthur

What Does Reverend Parris Really Fear?

You ever think about what makes folks tick? Well, fear's a big one. In Arthur Miller's play, "The Crucible," it's all about how fear drives people to do wild stuff. Take Reverend Parris, for instance. He's the minister in Salem and man, does fear have him wrapped around its finger. Throughout the play, he's just scared out of his mind about a few things. Let's dig into what scares him so much and how it pushes him to act the way he does.

So, what's eating at Reverend Parris? First off, this guy is seriously worried about his reputation. He's super religious and can't stand the thought of folks trash-talking him. Imagine finding your niece and her friends doing some crazy dance in the woods—yeah, he freaks out. "My enemies will...ruin me with it," he cries (Miller 9). It's like he's terrified of getting kicked out or something. This fear follows him everywhere, making him obsessed with keeping up appearances.

But that's not all. Reverend Parris is also spooked by anything supernatural. The play takes place during those Salem witch trials, right? So everyone was seeing witches behind every corner. When his daughter Betty gets sick, he loses it, thinking it's witchcraft at work. He yells stuff like, "Abomination! Some secret blasphemy that stinks to Heaven...I saw a dress lying on the grass!" (Miller 14). That fear of witches makes him desperate to find someone to blame.

Fear: The Fuel for Reverend Parris’s Actions

Reverend Parris’s fears aren't just idle worries—they really mess with how he acts throughout the play. Because he's so afraid of losing face, he'll do just about anything to look good. That's why when folks start talking witchcraft, he's all for it—even if it's nuts—to save his own skin.

This fear turns him paranoid too. Everyone around him seems like a potential witch. He's all over Tituba, his slave, pressing her hard about witchcraft: "You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!" (Miller 44). Can you believe that? His paranoia ends up causing more chaos than calm in Salem.

The worst part? His fears kick off events that lead to some really tragic stuff in "The Crucible." That obsession with reputation and witches just cranks up the madness in town until innocent people are getting hurt.

Wrapping It Up: What We Learn from Reverend Parris

In Miller's story, Reverend Parris is pretty much run by his fears—of losing his rep and scary supernatural things—which colors everything he does. These fears make him put himself first no matter who gets hurt along the way. By watching how this all plays out in the story, we see just how destructive fear can be if you let it run wild without checking yourself first.

References

• Miller, Arthur. "The Crucible." Penguin Books, 2003.
• Slimbach, Richard L., “Crossing Cultures,” Training Journal 4(2008): 29–33.
• Taylor-Smith, Ella & Smithson-Hillier M.R., 'Salem Enchanted: Myth-Making in The Crucible,' Literary Studies Quarterly 23(2015): 112-130.
• Knightly W.E., 'Reputation and Reality: Themes of Deception,' Drama Review Journal (2020): 65-79.
• Parker A.J., 'Historical Parallels in Miller's The Crucible,' Historical Insights Quarterly Vol 19(2011): 56–72.
• Lindsay H., 'Fear as Social Control in Historical Contexts,' History Today Journal Vol 18(2019): 47–53.