Parris's scramble to save face relevant to the 21st century.

Not many people in the play appreciate or approve of the reverend Parris. Parris tries to save face several times throughout the novel which has a few relevant features that relate to our 21st century. To begin, when being accused of dancing in the woods with Tituba, Abigail and the girls deny dancing with the devil. Although Parris knows what he had witnessed he denies the fact that the girls may have been dancing with the devi. He relates to our 21st century immensely because we often disregard believing in things that we see. We know that Parris earlier in the play had actually witnessed the girls dancing naked in the woods. Although Parris himself knows what he saw he ignores the fact that it is real or actually happened. His reputation proves to be of much importance rather than the actual truth. Self-consciousness surrounds his daily life which makes him to be "numero uno" in his own mind (frequently thinks of his own interests rather than those of the congregation or in fact his own family). He shows signs of how, we, as Americans are today. We are surrounded by approval and disapproval and rather than not care how others view us we lie to make ourselves look better. We neglect the truth as much as it may make the situation better. "The truth hurts" is in fact a relevant quote for this material. During Act IV of the play Parris tries to save face again by begging Proctor to sign the paper agreeing to the terms of using witchcraft. He not only does this to Proctor but to others that are jailed. Parris realizes the disturbances that has been caused due to the outbreak that the girls and partly himself have created. This also is relevant to us today in the 21st century. When faced with the fact that we have actually done something wrong we try to save ourselves to sort of "undue the problem." So in the end Parris trying to save face throughout the play relates greatly to the 21st century because he represents the state of oblivion that we as people today are in.