Epilogue of Mr. Parris

The Epilogue of Reverend Parris

            The Witch Trials are finally over; Salem is once again a quiet, peaceful town, but that is really the only thing that hasn’t changed since before. The judges from Boston have departed, their pride somewhat diminished. Even the instigator of all the hysteria, the one who caused the dramatic shift in power, has fled, destroying all credibility of her stories for most. It seems as if every citizen of Salem had at least one friend or family member get hanged for witchcraft. Because of this, the majority of the people who still reside there have a simmering anger towards anyone or anything who was a supporter of the girls who did most of the accusing. One of these people is the former Reverend Parris. Before he could be chased out of Salem by angry townspeople, Mr. Parris left on his own, giving no warning to any family or friends.

            Before he was robbed and driven from his position of power, Mr. Parris was relatively content with his life and thus a fairly peaceful man. However, after being driven from his home and robbed of his power and reputation, Parris has focused most of his newfound rage at the people whose fault he believes it to be; John Proctor and Abigail Williams. If John had done what Mr. Parris, Reverend Hale and Danforth wanted him to and confessed, then Parris’s reputation would have been mostly restored and everyone would have believed that all of the accused really were witches. But John chose to keep that from happening and denied the charges until he was hanged. Towards the end of the Witch Trials, Abigail stole all of Mr. Parris’s fortune and fled with Mercy Lewis, rumor having it that they traveled to Boston. Now penniless and powerless, Parris has decided his best course now that he has been kicked out of his hometown is to kill two birds with one stone by tracking down his niece, Abigail. His first desire is to have vengeance on the deceptive girl who ruined his life, and his second is to reacquire his fortune that she stole.

Following the rumors that surrounded the girl who cried witch, Parris managed to follow Abigail’s trail to the nearest big city, Boston. Upon his arrival, Mr. Parris saw just how daunting his task would be hunting down one girl in this huge city. For a few days he searched relentlessly, searching every crowd hoping to catch a glimpse of his niece, but eventually he realized that it was very likely hopeless. Having no desire to return to the town in which he was so despised, Mr. Parris decided to settle in Boston and found employment as an innkeeper. For weeks he lived peacefully, always keeping an eye out for his despised niece and her companion. Strangely, Parris’s anger over what happened increased over time instead of diminishing. He came to blame Abigail for everything that happened during the Witch Trials up to where he left. Eventually he bought a pistol, and then started going out and roving the city every night searching for her. One early morning Mr. Parris was making a short stop at the market to pick up some more food for the inn. Because of the hour very few people were also out wandering the streets. As luck would have it, Parris glanced into the window of another inn while talking with a merchant and caught a brief glimpse of a familiar face.

            Mr. Parris’s eyes widened, then filled with excitement as he rushed up to the door of the inn. Throwing it wide, he quickly glanced around the room and found it to be empty save for the barkeeper. He rushed upstairs, drawing his pistol as he did so, and began throwing open doors in search of her. Suddenly, in the last room of the hallway, he threw open a door and found her. Abigail looked at him, and the look of recognition in her eyes quickly turned to fear as she took in the pistol and the look of rage in Parris’s eyes. With seemingly no hesitation, he pulled the trigger, muttering that she should not have so ruined his life as he did so. Feverishly he searched her room afterwards, and found his fortune stashed inside of a drawer. Only about half of it was remaining, but for Parris, that was enough. With a shout of victory, he quickly scrambled out the window and sprinted to collect his belongings from his old inn. Feeling elated at his weeks of searching being worth it, Mr. Parris quickly packed his belongings and left the state of Massachusetts forever.