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Characterisation in the crucible
How does john hale change in the crucible
Essay on reverend hale in the crucible
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“Hale: Why, it is all simple. I come to do the Devil’s work. I come to counsel Christians they should belie themselves. (His sarcasm collapses.) There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!!” (Miller 137). In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, a man is sent to Salem, Massachusetts to help get rid of the witches. This man’s name is John Hale. He helps get rid of people that are accused of witchery. The judge is still accusing people of witchcraft and because they will not admit it they are getting hanged. Hale is a dynamic character because at first he wants to prove that witchery is real but at the end he recognizes that a man named John Proctor was telling the truth and that the girls were lying the whole time. In the …show more content…
He asked John Proctor if he believed in the people that are being accused are real witches. “Hale: (quietly-it has impressed him) ...It’s said you hold no belief that there may even be witches in the world. Is that true, sir?” (Miller 73). John Proctor can either answer true or false to this question if he answer true than Hale may think he is a witch. If he answers falsely then he will also think he is a witch. No matter what you answer the person can still be right is called a gotcha question. Hale is now doubting his former convictions. “Hale: But it does not follow that everyone accused is part of it,” (Miller 103). Hale is starting to believe that the girls are being hypocrites and is faking the witch-hunt. So far, several women and men went to jail because of the accusations that were being made. Hale now believes John Proctor after he states that he has committed adultery because John Proctor wants to save his name and wouldn’t tell anyone. “Hale: I believe him!...This girl has always struck me false! She has- (Abigail...screams up to the ceiling.)” (Miller 119). He now believes that the witch accusers is all fake and made up so the group of girls can have attention on them. Abigail told them that if they go to the judge and tell them the truth then “...I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you…” (Miller 20). Hale has chosen that Proctor is telling the truth and the group of girls including Mary Warren, who is the Proctor’s servant, is lying about the people in Salem being
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, is about mass hysteria of witches being in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. An educated man named Revered Hale arrived in the town with his exclusive knowledge of witches to help the town eliminate the presence of the Devil. He became a member of the court and aided in putting innocent people in jail or hung. As Hale started to see the consequences of his actions, he struggled with fixing his mistakes. The change in his perspective of the witch trials caused his overall personality and attitude to change as well. Hale’s dialogue, stage directions, and other people’s perceptions of him reveal a man motivated by good intentions; furthermore, his mission to help Salem destroyed evil in the beginning and his attempts
The tragic tale of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts was re-written by Arthur Miller in the form of the play “The Crucible”. The trials have been studied to figure out what really happened, but no one will ever know since it happened decades ago. The play is the closest reenactment we have to help us see how people could have reacted to life. “The Crucible” shows how using others as a cushion to keep from being punished can go extremely bad. Amidst all the chaos a man by the name Reverend John Hale came to help but ended up with making it a huge amount worse.
Hale has a lot of wisdom to share with Salem. " Man, remember, until an hour before the devil fell, God thought him beautiful in heaven," (p. 71); ".private vengeance is working through testimony," (p. 114). John Proctor is a strong and courageous character who will not give in easily to his accusers. In the end of The Crucible he denies the charges of witchcraft.
Reverend John Hale, a Puritan pastor of Beverly, Massachusetts, was a strong believer of witchcraft and was one of the many people who sought out to end satan's reign. In The Crucible reverend John Hale represents the change in beliefs.
When Reverend Hale has come to inquire at the Proctor house, John defends Rebecca Nurse by exclaiming, "It's hard to think so pious a woman may be secretly the Devil's bitch after seventy years of such good prayer" (1276). This quote really stands out because how proctor describes his wife as being "Pious", to be piety is a desire and willingness to perform religious duties. When proctor said this to Hale it woke him up and that is when he realized that Abigails acusations were fake, at this point and time of the story Hale is starting to believe that Abigail Williams acusations are not one hundred percent true.
John Proctor, though, was accused of witchcraft as a result of all the mass hysteria that had taken place. He, in fact, did not commit the crime of witchcraft. John Proctor was urged to confess to doing the act of witchcraft and initially did. Reverend Hale had been asked to come to Salem to reconnoiter the area to see for sure if Lucifer was involved with the current events that had taken place. Reverend Hale soon realized all the lunacy that was taking place and began to suspect that the girls accusing everyone were pretending.
The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations. The confession of Proctor would convince others in the town to confess to their
Reverend Hale’s Character traits aided him in maintain his morals because they gave him the strength that he needed to do the right thing. In the beginning he saw signs that he interpreted as actual work of the devil and honestly thought that Salem was infested with...
Because he is forced to accept that his beliefs have been messed with and realizes that he has sent people to their deaths, he loses faith in the law and questions his faith in God. Arthur Miller put many events into the story and tells about Hale’s mindset. In the middle of Act I, Hale comes and what he is called by the townspeople “The truth seeker”. Hale is called upon to determine what sort of witchcraft is going on. Hale arrives admired by the people who wants him to calm this nonsense of witchcraft down. He understands he being led toward the conclusion of witchcraft by the town’s wrong doings. He also begins to see a weakness in the position of the townspeople of Salem and tries to not let common things be the support for his
The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller. This play centers around the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts. In Act II, Abigail and her friends accuse several innocent people of witchcraft. Once they leave the court, Reverend Hale goes to John Proctor’s house to inform Elizabeth Proctor that people in the court have mentioned her name. Then officials of the court, Herrick and Cheever, arrive at the Proctor’s house. They claim to have a warrant for Elizabeth’s arrest because the court declares she practices witchcraft. After, Herrick and Cheever take Elizabeth to jail. Injustice in Act II prevails because of the inability to see the truth. Reverend Hale and John Proctor illuminate the theme that closed-mindedness
In Act II Hale, in his true moral values which do not change throughout the course of the play, goes to each house questioning the inhabitants on their loyalty to Christianity. He winds up at the Proctor home, where he questions both John and Elizabeth, who are angry at the reasoning of the questioning. They find out that he has questioned Rebecca Nurse as well and this anger...
Written in the 1950s, Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible delineates the situation of the McCarthy conflicts in America while the plays’ events revolve around the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692. In the play, two major characters are Reverend Hale, an expert on witches sent to Salem for investigation, and John Proctor, a man known for his leadership and hard work. Proctor and Hale, in addition to both being Puritans, are alike in their actions and motives since they both see the depravity of the court and seek to protect people from it. However, they have major differences in their characters as they have contrasting dedication to Christianity and the values that they live by.
Arthur Millers The Crucible possesses many examples of interesting character development. A character who one initially finds to be worthy of mercy or pity can easily become the last person deserving of sympathy. This relationship is not only formed between the reader and the characters, but between the characters and the scenario of the story itself. The victim may become the accuser, or the scholar may become the humanitarian. This manner of characterization is best shown in the relationship between Reverend John Hale and Deputy Governor Danforth. Each is objectified to the events in Salem as they come into the situation with no attachments to any of the other characters and are unfamiliar with any of their mannerisms or personalities. Hale is a well-read minister who relies upon his books. Danforth is a reputable judge who relies on consistent input and prodding. Both of these men enter the trials with very similar goals. The places they stand at the finish, however, could not be more different. This is due to the personal relationships and opinions Hale develops concerning Salem. Reverend Hale is a dynamic character who learns his role as a minister while Judge Danforth is a constant force who voices others opinions through his authority.
Arthur Miller weaves many events into the story that contribute to the alteration in Hale’s mindset. In the middle of Act 1, Hale arrives and is perceived by the town as “The truth seeker”. Hale is called upon to determine what sort of witchcraft, if any, is occurring (Page 33-35). Hale arrives admired by the people, who all want him to claim it was witchcraft that has occurred. Although unsure, he understands he is being led toward the conclusion of witchcraft by the town’s false pretences and mass hysteria. He begins to see a weakness in the position of the townspeople of Salem and tries to not let common accusations be the support for his diagnosis.
To start things off in the court, John Proctor is the protagonist and Abigail is the antagonist. Abigail also leads the girls in court in their witchcraft accusations. To start the court situation off, Hale believed that all the information that she told him were indeed false and only lead Abigail to point at others such as Mary Warren. “But God made my face; you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin, Mary”. (Miller 120). The irony here is she calls out Mary Warren for committing a deadly sin such as envy, however both lies with the lord’s name in vain and committed adultery with John Proctor (as that is what she stats happened). Abigail also points again to Elizabeth Proctor and accuses her of creating a voodoo doll and stuck pins into it to harm her, when it was Mary Warren who put it into the Proctor’s home to have proof that the Elizabeth needed to be arrested. “Tis hard proof!(To Hale) I find here a poppet Goody Proctor keeps. I have found it sir. And in the belly of the poppet is a needle’s stuck” (Miller 79). Also it was Mary Warren who put it there, everyone assumed it was Goody Proctor who did because it was in the Proctor home. However, even after Goody Proctor was set to be arrested with enough proof, Mary Warren comes out to tell everyone that it is her poppet.