During the time the court proceedings first started, there was little to no doubt about the legitimacy of the cases. Any doubt presented would be heavily frowned upon according to Danforth, the main judge of the trials, who asks participants whether "there lurks nowhere in your heart, nor hidden in your spirit, any desire to undermine this court" (III). While Parris may not have said this himself, it 's significance is displayed by how Parris will be motivated later on during the proceedings. When Danforth questions whether anyone has any desire to undermine the court, Parris must have taken it as telling the truth as well. The only people to "undermine" the court were those seeking justice for their loved ones, such as Francis Nurse, Giles Corey, and John Proctor. They provided evidence against the court which led them into more trouble, such as Francis having all those signers he enlisted in his petition questioned, Giles being pressed for not providing a witness ' name, and John by being accused of witchcraft. As a result of all of these events, readers can assume that Parris ' nature will lead to his wanting to stay out of the way of the courts. This hypothesis is proven to be correct when Parris himself is questioned for what he saw in the forest. When Danforth asks him what he did see, he …show more content…
Near the end of the play, the town has gone into a whirlwind of chaos due to the trials ruining many lives. Other towns have also been afflicted and had since rioted. Parris confronts Danforth about this and tells him, "Andover have thrown out the court, they say, and will have no part of witchcraft. There be a faction here, feeding on the news, I tell you true, sir, I fear will be a riot here" (IV). Once again, readers unsurprisingly know that Parris says all of this with only himself in mind. He mentions a conflict occurring in a nearby town, and that a faction, which many readers can assume to be one of which that opposes Parris, may take part in the rebellion set to be here in Salem. The only reason Parris is fearful here is because he knows that if society breaks down and starts to rebel, many inhabitants would point fingers at him for his involvement in causing the trials in the first place. With that thought, readers can propose that Parris ' mindset is to find a way to keep himself in favor of the people around him. If readers did make that proposal, they would find themselves being pleased to be correct. Parris thinks that the best way to get out of the situation is to get someone like John Proctor to confess to witchcraft. He says, "It is a great service, sir. It is a weighty name; it will strike the village that Proctor