Sunday, December 6, 2015

In Act 1 of "The Crucible", after Parris begins to believe his daughter to be afflicted by witchcraft, what is Thomas Putman's advice to him?

Putnam tells Parris that he needs to make the announcement
himself that he has discovered witchcraft in his household.  He tells Parris that if he
takes control of the situation now, and tells the town that he is going to take on the
task of ferreting out the source of the witchcraft and find out who the witches are, the
town will praise him for it.  Parris is hesitant for fear the townspeople will look down
on him since his daughter is one of the "afflicted".  But at Putnam's urging, Parris
realizes that he can use this to his advantage if he makes it to seem that his daughter
is a victim of witchcraft, not a practitioner of witchcraft.  This helps to feed the
fire of frenzy and fear that is burning through Salem. Putnam sees this as a chance to
control Parris and to get his neighbor's land.

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