Profile of Reverand John Hale in Arthur Miller's The Crucible

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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.

Mr. Hale as they refer to him in the play, started out as a student at Harvard College and graduated in 1657. Ten years later he was ordained as a minister of the Parish Church in Beverly, Mass on September 20th 1667. He was the first minister of this church from what I read. A few years past and Hale was called to the Village of Salem to rid its streets of witches and witchcraft. His degree and church background make Mr. Hale the best candidate to earn people’s trust, and use it to make the investigation advantage.

Mr. Hale’s trip to Salem solely took place so he could just if the girls’ sickness had to do with witchcraft. The manner at which he approached it doomed it from the start, he came in the middle of the chaos with the attitude that he could just fix everything with his books. His stubbornness to look at the situation from another point of view collided with the small town’s fear. This presence seemed to confirm their fear that the devil was already present. Salem was small enough where every one knew everyone and where he or she lived and worked. Word can spread fast and people became determined to stamp out the evil in their town.

As the accusations started fueling Hales’ fire to find witchcraft other girls started acting like they were helping Salem. When all the girls started acting like the accused were strangling them and making them do bad things, it just went too far. People started being hung and more of the town started to believe what these young girls had been saying and feeling. Hales was working with the judges and town leaders to see what could be done with the alleged witches and wizards.

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