Parris came from a wealthy merchant family in London but never managed to achieve any success in trade himself. When he first arrived in Salem Village, he was in his thirties, felt like a commercial failure, and was hoping for a fresh start as a minister. Unaware of the contentious rivalry between the Town and Village, Parris only aggravated the situation by preaching the virtues of the agrarian life over the money-grubbing practices of commerce. People who approved or rejected his values coalesced into pro-Parris and anti-Parris factions.

The witch craze of 1692 placed Parris at the forefront of a move to cleanse Salem Village of all evil, which he associated with the Town. He briefly succeeded in quelling those against him through accusations of witchcraft, but he ultimately failed in his self-appointed mission to defeat the devil in Salem. Parris subsequently left the Village and spent the rest of his life in obscurity.

Putnam Junior was the leader of a clan of wealthy farmers living in the western region of the Village. He struggled to maintain the prestige of his family in the face of shrinking financial opportunities. Putnam and his wife had both suffered disinheritance through the machinations of unscrupulous relatives and felt a bitter resentment toward the Porter family, whom they believed were responsible for their reduced circumstances.