Moral Conflict in the The Crucible
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is a great portrayal of humans and their struggles. This
play takes place in the 1690’s in Salem, a small Puritan community based on a rigid social
system, where an outbreak of rumors claiming witchcraft contaminated the small village. The
witch hysteria was initiated by a group of young girls (headed by Abigail Williams,) who were
afraid of being accused of swaying from the strict regulations. This caused conflict among the
people of the community and ultimately resulted in absolute chaos. I am going to write about
three of the main characters, Reverend Hale, John Proctor and Mary Warren, who have some of
the most intense internal and external struggles in the play.
Reverend Hale’s battle is initiated by his personal commitment to God. In Act I, the
Reverend is described as an eager-eyed intellectual pondering the invisible world. Hale seeks
witches and gets them to confess, so god can bless them and rid them of the devil. An example of
this is when he said to Betty, “In nomine Domini Sabaoth sui filiique ite ad infernos,” which
means: In the name of the lord of hosts and his son get thee to the lower world. This shows
Reverend Hale’s views on witchery. He is a deeply religious man who was unrelenting in his
quest for the devil. Originally, Hale believed that there was witchcraft in the town and wanted to
drive it out. However as the play develops, Hale witnesses sincere and respectable townspeople
being sentenced and hanged. Hale tries to gain a perspective on those accused, by going to their
houses and putting questions to them, about their nature and religious behavior. He soon learn...
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anything to keep their personal lives a secret, and so Mary would not have felt the need to
condemn John to witchery to save herself. The actions of Mary Warren, causing John Proctor to
hang, affect Hale’s life dramatically, making him question all that he has held dear (himself, the
fairness of the judicial system and his religion.) This was probably the most dramatic point in
Hale’s life, and he soul searches himself to the point of leaving Salem promptly after Proctor’s
hanging. So, this shows that all of these pivotal characters had a good deal of influence in the
way the play turned out individually, but more importantly, their individual actions
affected the others’ actions, both creating and enhancing the obvious moral conflicts in The
Crucible.
Bibliography:
Miller, Arthur- The Crucible
(p. 44); "Who came to you with the devil?" and ".perhaps another person in the village?" (p. 45). A few of his faults are that he judges too much by appearances, ".you look as such a good soul should" (p. 37); ".a claim so weighty cannot be argued by a farmer," (p. 99); and he uses people to question other people.
Hale’s radical change takes place throughout the play in three stages and throughout the play contributes greatly. He is the model by which the townspeople follow, though they are behind him they do eventually take his stance on the trials. His conformity and inward questioning are quintessential examples of what every story needs: the unsure character.
story takes place in Salem in 1692, during the Salem witch trials. The story starts
The test that Reverend John Hale faces is whether he can change his character early enough to redeem himself for the lives he has caused to be lost. He is the character that shows the most significant transformation overall. When he first comes to Salem, he is eager to find witchcraft and is honored that his scholastic skills are necessary. He feels that as an exorcist, it is his duty to help pe...
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. The conversations that Hale has demonstrated the evolution of his mindset. In Act II, Hale is traveling around the town, going house-to-house, searching for accused women to warn them that their names have been mentioned in the court. Soon, Hale finds himself standing at the Proctor home. At this moment, Hale sees a different perspective on the entire situation.
Hale is an intellectual man who takes pride in his ability to detect witchcraft. He was called to Salem to analyze their situation. "This is a beloved errand for him; on being called here to ascertain witchcraft he felt the pride of one specialist whose unique knowledge has at least been publically called for."
that Mary is a witch. In response, Proctor confesses his lechery to weaken the perception
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
They had no trouble believing that, because Parris had called Reverend Hale, (known for his studies in demonic arts), there must truly be witchcraft within the town. The play progresses and certain characters begin to develop; here is a community full of underlying personal grudges. Religion pervades every aspect of life. ' A man may think that God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now.
The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late
The Crucible by Arthur Miller raises many thought provoking issues throughout the play, including the importance of personal integrity, injustice in society and the rights of the community versus the rights of the individual.
Arthur Miller expresses the concept of oppression being present in every society through the characters of The Crucible. "It is still impossible for man to organize his social life without repressions." As discussed, personal motives, disputes and misuses of power, as well as distorted religious beliefs are the roots of the maltreatment in Salem. Miller’s statement and message is valid and applicable in every society, and for every
The Crucible is a play that is based on a true story by Arthur Miller.
In the Crucible, Arthur Miller shows us how fear and suspicion can destroy a community. As the play develops, Miller shows us how fear and suspicion increase and destroy the community. Throughout the play it becomes apparent that the community gets more and more divided as time goes on. In the beginning there were arguments about ownership of land between some of the villagers. As the story progresses people fear for their own safety and begin accusing their neighbours of witchcraft in order to escape being hanged.
“livestock die because of witchcraft, family members turn against each other because of witchcradt, servants defy masters because of witchcraft. For every ill in Salem, witchcraft is the scapegoat.’ (56)