In 1953 Arthur Miller wrote a novel called The Crucible. This book is set in 1962 and it tells the story of the infamous witch trials that took place in Salem,Massachusetts. Throughout this whole story we find that greed effected much of what happened in Salem, in fact greed caused the whole problem. From Abigail Williams's lust for John Proctor, a married man, to Thomas Putnam's greed for land to Judge Danforth's greed for power along with many others, greed was shown rampant in Salem during these times. I believe that greed, in all the forms presented in the book, destroyed the town and the people of Salem, Massachusetts. This book really shows the effect that greed can have on people and how easily it can ruin a person. Many people who were thought to be Godly righteous people were overtaken by greed, and the result was their life and the lives of others often times ruined. There were three types of greed presented in this book; they were greed for money, greed for power, and greed for another person's spouse. .
Greed for Money.
Greed for money was evident in this play and was expressed thru the characters of Rev Parris and Thomas Putnam. Both men were known and hated for their greed, and were accused repeatedly throughout the play by others as being greedy.
Rev Parris was a merchant before he became a minister and it was evident that he still had a love for money. Instead of worrying and caring for his daughter when she was "sick" he was arguing with his members about his ministers salary(Miller 29). John Proctor didn't have much respect for Rev Parris because when Parris came to Salem he wanted golden candlesticks instead of the perfectly good pewter ones they had. For twenty weeks he preached nothing but golden candlesticks until he got them(Miller 65). .
Another example of Rev Parris's greed was when Abigail and Mary Warren stole Parris's money from his strongbox, he seemed more worried about losing all of his money then his Abigail his niece.
