The amount of damage that one individual with selfish and narcissistic motives can do to a society is often underestimated. It only takes the greed and self-interest of one person to begin an irreversible process of decay. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, this is the dilemma that faces Salem. Early one morning, the daughter of Reverend Samuel Parris, Betty Parris, is found in her bed, unmoving, after her father caught she and the other girls of the village dancing in the woods. Due to her strange symptoms, and the fact that the doctor cannot find any natural cause for her symptoms, Thomas Putnam, whose child Ruth is also afflicted, immediately cites the cause as witchcraft. His claim is only made stronger when Reverend Parris admits to having sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly. Hale is an expert on combating the demonic arts and Parris would have no reason to call upon him unless he suspected witchcraft himself. After Betty awakens and begins accusing people of being witches and consorting with the Devil, the hysteria takes hold, even though it is completely irrational for learned men such as Reverend Parris and Reverend Hale to believe these girls. The willingness of the Salemites to accuse each other of witchcraft stemmed from their hidden motives and agendas. The characters of Thomas Putnam, Reverend Parris and Abigail Williams display this vindictiveness and narcissistic behavior through Putnam's land-lust, Parris' fixation with his reputation, and Abigail's obsession over John Proctor.
Reverend Samuel Parris' greed and obsession with his reputation is shown when he refuses to admit that he has found witchcraft, his willingness to attempt to discredit Proctor, Giles and Francis Nurse, and his abandonment of his morals when threatened with death and the executions of John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse. Reverend Parris holds off on declaring that witchcraft has been found, not to stop the mass hysteria that will engulf the town, but because he believes that the "faction that is sworn to drive [him] from [his] pulpit," (10) will capitalize on this obvious sign of Satan and gain enough followers to vote him out of office.