Revenge and jealousy is a very powerful form of motivation where someone will do everything to pursue their own personal gain. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller illustrates and demonstrates the extent that personal vengeance can have on a society where townsmen accuse their own. The trials in the Crucible take place against the back drop of a deeply religious and superstitious society, and most of the characters in the play seem to believe that rooting out witches from their community is God's work. However, there are plenty of feuds and rivalries in the small town that have nothing to with religion, and many Salem residents take advantage of the trials to express long held grudges and revenge on their enemies. In the Novel there are key people in the town that manipulate the trials the most. One of these characters is Reverend Parris. Reverend Parris, a paranoid and insecure figure, begins the play with a precarious hold on his office, and the trials enable him to strengthen his position within the village by making scapegoats of people like Proctor who question his authority. He and another character John Proctor have had confrontations before. John Proctor had been singled out because he does not attend Church as often as the other townsmen do. Throughout .
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the trials John is thought of to undermine the court which would make Parris look bad, because he has been slowly losing respect between the townsman. During the trials Proctor's slave turns on him fearing for her life. To make matters worse Parris says "The devil's book? [ Proctor ] come with a book?"(110) The Reverend further instigates and gets the judges to think the way they want them to so John Proctor looks bad.
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Among the minor characters, the wealthy, ambitious Thomas Putnam has a bitter grudge against Francis Nurse for a number of reasons: Nurse prevented Putnam's brother-in-law from being elected to the Salem ministry, and Nurse is also engaged in a bitter land dispute with one of Putnam's relatives.
