The Real Killers in the Crucible

The real killers in The Crucible, by playwright Arthur Miller, were not Tituba or Sarah Good, and definitely not Elizabeth Proctor. The true killers were Betty Parris, Reverend Parris and Abigal Williams. They killed innocent people by accusing them of witchcraft and having them hanged simply to make sure their reputation wasn't injured, or so that they didn't get in trouble. These three were so selfish that they accused and practically murdered good, innocent people just because they felt like getting that person in trouble. If it was only these three, not much would have happened, but that they convinced and sucked in other villagers to be a part of their outrageous trials.

The first person that is responsible for the events and deaths during the witch trials is Betty Parris, the one who truly triggered all of the nonsense. Betty and many other girls are dancing in the woods with Tituba and a cauldron, when suddenly they are caught by Reverend Parris. Betty passes out and triggers the events that make up the rest of the play. Parris is trying to find out what happened to his daughter, and since nothing is actually wrong with her and she is simply pretending to avoid trouble, Parris is told by Susann Walcott, "Aye, sir, he have been

searchin' his books since he left you, sir, but he bid me tell you, that you might look to unnatural things for the cause of it." (Miller ) Since Betty won't wake up and she is not sick in any way, the town doctor is telling the town's Reverend that he should be worrying about witchcraft, and yet Betty still won't "wake up" and just admit the truth. Although she isn't one of the main factors that keeps it going, Betty Parris is clearly the causing factor of the infamous Salem witch trials.

The next person to blame for the deaths of the innocent is Reverend Parris. When Betty is first "afflicted", he is attempting to tell anybody that suggests witchcraft as the cause of Betty's sickness that there is no way there is any black magic in his town. Despite his early efforts to dispel the rumors of witchcraft, when things really start to kick in, and the whole village is starting to believe in it, Parris has too much pride to admit that there is any possibility of all of the witchcraft going on is a hoax. All he is worried about is his reputation, which is shown when he is arguing with Abigail about what her and the other girls did in the forest and he says, "But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it." (Miller ) As the town preacher, Parris was a respected and listened-to man in the village and could have told all of the townspeople that there actually was no witchcraft, but he would not do so because he fears it would hurt his reputation, which to him is more important than saving the lives of the innocent.

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