At the beginning of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Reverend John Hale is introduced as an intellectual who is extremely learned in the subject of witchcraft, having had an experience with a witch not long before he was contacted by Reverend Parris of Salem. Due to Reverend Hale’s “experience” with a witch, he is extremely confident in his abilities, as exemplified by the quote “they must be; they are weighted with authority” in which Hale was talking about his books, .This is also shown by his actions when he assesses Betty Parris as she lie in bed sick. In act one Hale is sure of the witchcraft surrounding Betty and the town of Salem, as shown through his conversations with Tituba and Abby on page 1260, where he responds to Tituba saying she …show more content…
The reader first sees Hale’s doubt of his own skills when he is in John Proctors house talking to Elizabeth and John Proctor about Elizabeth being under scrutiny of the court, when he says “I am a stranger here, as you know. And in my ignorance I find it hard to draw a clear opinion of them that come accused before the court.” In the former quote Hale is acknowledging that he’s not familiar with the people and he meets them then judges them. While Hale does acknowledge he is a stranger to the people, he also still believes there is witchcraft, as shown by the quote “This is a strange time, Mister. No man may longer doubt the powers of the dark are gathered in monstrous attack upon this village. There is too much evidence to deny it” The change in his statements making him seem indecisive. In act two Reverend Hale seems to think that no one can be trusted, as he asks John and Elizabeth Proctor to list their commandments, and questions them as to why they haven’t been in church, and while Hale is the reverend being asked to judge the people he says “Goody Proctor, I do not judge you. My duty is to add what I may to …show more content…
Reverend Hale’s presence in Act Three is resigned, he is positive that he and the court are incorrect and he just wants to right the wrongs done and prevent more wrongs from being committed. Hale’s acquiescence is shown first by a stage direction where he is hesitant to respond to Deputy Governor Danforth’s question and shown again by the quote “Your Honor. I cannot think you may judge the man on such evidence” which shows his disbelief and his disagreement with the court’s decisions. Reverend Hale voices his disagreement with the court’s actions by saying “Is every defense an act upon the court? Can no one” And is instantaneously shot down and silenced. He then reiterates his fears by talking about the fear of the courts in the country, and saying “But it does not follow that everyone accused is part of it”. Mr. Hale repeatedly tries to appeal to Danforth and the court, one example of this is the quote “I have this morning signed away the soul of Rebecca Nurse, Your Honor, Ill not conceal it, my hand shakes yet as with a wound! I pray you, sir, this argument let lawyers present it to you.” Hale is defeated for a while but is brought back into the act by him saying “Excellency, it is a natural lie to tell; I beg you, stop now before another is condemned! I may shut my conscience to it no more - private vengeance is working through this
Throughout The Crucible, Reverend Hale is a faithful and intelligent minister. He comes to Salem as the spiritual doctor to respond to the rumors of witchcraft, which have been flying in Salem after the strange illness of Reverend Parris’s daughter, Betty Williams. Hale never declares witchcraft, but he relies on people’s evidence of it because of the large amount of evidence. As the play goes on, Hale’s intelligence leads him to other sources of hysteria and accusations. The change in the character of Reverend Hale is noticeable throughout the play. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Reverend Hale grows from a confident, authoritative figure, trying to end witchcraft in Salem, to a regretful, fair character who wants to end injustice and save innocent lives.
This creates a web of confusion and lies throughout the village. Proctor, however, does not feel right confessing to something he did not do. Reverend Hale, a man who is trying to undo the wrongs and bring peace to Salem, tries to persuade Proctor to confess for the sake of his family. When Proctor is offered the opportunity to confess being a witch publically and live, he almost gives in, even signing his name on a written document. Nevertheless, he states, “Nothing’s spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten before.” (p. 208) Proctor has the opportunity to choose his fate, and makes an honorable choice that will protect his name. When Proctor is taken away to be hanged, Elizabeth says, “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take if from him!” (p.212) It was a noble decision of him to sacrifice himself, rather than let others die in his place and ruin his
Despite having similar actions striving towards the same goal of saving innocent people from the witchcraft hysteria, John Proctor and Reverend Hale are more different than alike as their character traits are completely opposite from each other: while one is devoted to God and values their life more than integrity, the other is not as pious and values integrity more than reputation and their
In the play The Crucible many characters use different rhetorical fallacies, and one of those characters being Reverend Hale. Hale comes is as an expert on witchcraft to help this small village in their new found problem. He interviewed everyone had made an allegation against people in the village and everyone who was said to be involved with witchcraft. When Reverend Parris comes to take Elizabeth Proctor into cusditoy after Abigail Williams says that Mrs. Proctors sprit was sent to stab her, Hale says, “Nonsense! Minister, I have myself examined Tituba, Sarah Good and numerous other that have confessed to dealing with the Devil. They have confessed it” (Miller 68). He is using the hasty generalization by drawing up a conclusion with insufficient
Reverend John Hale, from the play “The Crucible”, by Arthur Miller, evolves throughout the story as he faces tests of responsibility and righteousness. When he first comes to the town of Salem, Reverend Hale believes himself to be of the strongest importance because of his education and standing within the Puritan community. In an introductory description at the beginning of the play, it is said that “He feels himself allied with the best minds in Europe... His goal is light, goodness and its preservation, and he knows the exaltation of the blessed whose intelligence, sharpened by minute examinations of enormous tracts, is finally called upon to face what may be a bloody fight with the Fiend himself” (36). This is a good representation of his beliefs that he was superior and his purpose was to fight the Devil at all costs. He also shows no doubt in his skills, or his ability to accurately incriminate witches. A little bit later, Reverend Hale tells Tituba, “You are God’s instrument put in our hands to discover the Devil’s agents among us. You are selected, Tituba, you are chosen to help us
Hale responds to Proctor with, “And yet, Mister, a Christian on Sabbath Day must be in church…” (Miller 37. Act 1. Scene 2). Proctor is not a bad man; he identifies as a Christian and had most of his children Baptised, however, his pride and stubborn nature keep him from visiting Parris' church. While Proctor has good intentions when he isolates himself from Parris' influence, this casts suspicion on him and his family and eventually putting him and his wife in grave danger. Despite having this opportunity early on to throw this shadow of suspicion off of him, he is held back by his inability to swallow his pride. Later, after both Elizabeth and John Proctor have been jailed and face execution, they discuss what has happened for the past few months after they have been jailed. When asked why he has not confessed in exchange for his life, John replies, “Spite. Spite only keeps me silent. It is hard to give a lie to dogs!” (75.2.3). This is the most direct example of Proctor's pride harming him. This is his last
Nationwide, students in history classes study and learn about the infamous incident known as the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Through textbooks and research, students learn about this event from a factual and objective point of view. Students learn such facts like 19 men and women were hanged because they were convicted of witchcraft. Students learn the essential information as deemed important by their teacher; yet, students do not have the opportunity to learn about the trials from a subjective and personal point of view. Arthur Miller uses such a view point in his play The Crucible, which personifies the sentiments, attitudes, and standpoints of the people in Salem who were directly involved in the trials. Through Miller's poignant perspective, he shows the readers another side of the witch trials through the eyes of the actual participants. One such participant in the play who provides the readers with this valuable perspective is Reverend John Hale, a minister from Beverly who is called to Salem to investigate Salem's eccentric problem. Nonetheless, Reverend John Hale's perspective does not stay constant throughout the entire play. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the beliefs and principles of Reverend John Hale change dramatically, as the events of the Salem Witch Trials cause him to question his moral values and initial intentions.
“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.
Hale takes this job to a personal level when the the crisis takes a turn for the worse. He pleads with the people convicted of witchcraft to confess. He feels he is responsible for their lives because his purpose was to rid the town of witchcraft, not innocent lives. He beholds himself a failure when he cannot convince the accused to confess. His well justified pride is broken. He came into this village like a bride groom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion; the very crowns of holy law I brought, and what I touched with my bright confidence, it died; and where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up. He urges Elizabeth not ot let her pride interfere with her duty as a wife, as it did with his own duty.
Hale does not start out as such however. In fact he is the reason the witch hunts are started. In the beginning of the play Hale is called to Salem to determine whether or not witchcraft is afoot. Witchcraft is expertise, and Hale, eager and naïve, wants to determine whether or not the devil is in Salem. His analysis is that Tituba is controlling the girls’ souls, leading the girls, starting with Abigail of course, to shout out various people they saw convening with the devil while they were under the control of Tituba. Hale, blindly and unquestioningly conforms to the rest of the town and believes the girls. In fact he leads the way, resulting in fourteen arrests. He is completely unphased by this, and wholly believes that they are all witches and that by arresting them he is doing God’s work.
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
Lies. Death. Affairs. John Proctor had fornication with Abigail, who hates his wife and would do anything to make sure she was out of the picture. Abigail started the talk of witchcraft because her and the girls were caught dancing in the woods and she did not want to get into any trouble. John died because he was accused of witchcraft . Reverend Hale came into town and aided in pursuing the “witchcraft hunt”. In the book The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Hale is the most responsible for John Proctor’s death because when he arrived in town he started the gossip of witchcraft, he pressured and inquired the girls to give him a name, and he left the court when he could have tried to salvage the innocent people.
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
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Reverend Hale sees that he has made a huge mistake by running the Salem witch trials. Soon after, he attempts to prevent a situation in which he would be responsible for the death of an innocent man. Hale goes to Proctor’s wife and begs her to tell her husband that he must not be hanged, by saying “life, woman, is god’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, can justify taking it” (Miller). Here, Rev. Hale is stating that John Proctor should not get himself killed and justify his own hanging with a glorious principle. By stating this, Rev. Hale is
A crucible is a severe test as of patients or belief, a trial. The play The Crucible is a journey through the trials of many townspeople caused by the superstitious belief of witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller progresses and evolves the outlooks and views of the townspeople of Salem and shows how events, people, and catastrophes cause the characters to change their views on whether the people prosecuted were guilty or innocent of witchcraft. Reverend John Hale changes his view, more and more drastically as the play advances, as a result of the events that he underwent and the experiences he had. Soon he had total belief in the innocence of all those convicted and hung in Salem.