From The Lord To The Devis Hands

“I came to do the Devil’s work” is the ironic and sad truth that Reverend John Hale

realizes in Arthur Miller’s dramatic play, The Crucible. One can see that Hale’s

personality changes enormously throughout the play. These changes are illustrated by

Hale’s many statements in the play. The statements in the beginning of the play establish

Hale’s firm beliefs and toward the end of the play his disgust with the outcome of the

trials.

Hale is a very intriguing person with many character traits. “They must be, they

are weighted with authority.” (p. 36) This shows that he is sure of his actions and himself.

Another thing that he is sure of is witchcraft. This is shown when he states, “The Devil is

precise; the marks of his presence are as definite as stone.” (p.38) and, “Are you gathering

souls for the Devil?”(p. 44). One of Hale’s character flaws is that he judges by

appearances. “You look as such a good soul should.” (p. 37) and, “A claim so weighty

cannot be argued by a farmer.” (p. 99) He claims to be the right-hand man of the Lord,

“Have no fear now; we shall find him out if he has come among us, and I mean to crush

him utterly if he has shown his face.” When in reality, his actions and beliefs end with

tragic results. Hale believes so strongly in his religion that he is willing to use unjust

procedures to extract the information he wants. He does this when questioning Tituba

and John Proctor. “When the Devil comes to you, does he come with another person?

Perhaps another person in the village?” (p. 45) and “God put you in his hands to help

cleanse this village.” (p. 46) Hale uses these persuading techniques and the authority of

the church to find and punish the “enemies” of the church.

In the second act, the audience can actually make a distinction between the morally

weak Reverend Parris and Reverend Hale. When Hale goes to the Proctor’s house and

hears about the accusations, he states, “if Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothing’s left to

stop the whole green world from burning.” (p. 80) Yet, Hale is so religious that he has

difficulty denying the charges. He even states, “until an hour before the Devil fell, God

thought him beautiful in heaven.” (p. 68) Hale has a mental conflict here: His personal

feelings tell him that a person such as Rebecca couldn’t be a witch but his training has

taught him that Rebecca could be possessed by the Devil.