Thomas Putnam is a greedy man who urges Reverend Parris to be strong and face up to the witchcraft inside. He uses his daughter to accuse people whose property he groans. Miller and most historians believed that many of the accusations of witchcraft were based on these sorts of greedy and selfish desires. Perhaps Miller intended audience to see parallels between Putnam and individuals in Miller's own time who were accusing people of being communists for equally selfish and inessential reasons.
Thomas Putnam in the Essays
Author: Marshall Vasquez