The Devil

Proctor for avoiding church and forgetting a commandment. )The spiritual center is the church. I The Devil and Tom Walker Tom is starting to venture out on his own a bit from organized religion a la the transcendentalists, but later in life aerobically comes back to It without real passion or Interest. Halls adamant adherence to religion Is likened to his adamant adherence to greed and rings false. I Transcendentalismorganized religion is not needed and might even be a distraction to the person in obtaining spiritual enlightenment on one’s own.
I Land I Nature must be tamed by people and worked to obtain her resources. Forests are unknown and where the “heathen” Native Americans live. Len The Crucible a man’s worth Is often tied up in how many acres he has. I Tom’s usury is likened to the “land grabbers” and speculators who made money off selling land In a dishonest way. Native American view that land is not a commodity but a spiritual place. Nature should be preserved in its wild, unadulterated state to allow for the calming presence it gives the individual as a solace away from busy and corrupting society.
Hypocrisy I The Puritans held to the 10 commandments and religious doctrine, yet they were overzealous and ended up putting to death innocent people on speculation Just because they didn’t conform to their rules. I Tom becomes corrupted by greed and sells his soul to the devil. He was once poor but now greedy and “ostentatious. ” He uses people through his usury. I Holds that the hypocrisy comes from society that corrupts when people become “blinded” by material things and comparing themselves with others. Therefore, the individual is favored to avoid bad influences of others or via peer pressure, etc.