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Compare And Contrast Reverend Hale In The Crucible

Decent Essays

Literary characters such as Macbeth or Professor Moriarty, while typically portrayed as “evil,” are morally complex characters that view themselves as protagonists, similar to Reverend Hale. In Arthur Miller’s seminal recreation of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible, a group of Puritan farmers, landowners, and priests collide in a tale of desperate fear and hysteria. Reverend Hale, is a minister with what appears limitless knowledge of the supernatural, thrust into an event that his expertise could never prepare him for. While Hale’s intentions to eliminate all Demonic presence from Salem appear noble, the outcome leads to the deaths of many innocents and the greater spread of hysteria. Hale creates chaos by placing himself into a leadership position and refusing to acknowledge his pride, but is not a typically “evil” character. When he realizes his mistakes, Hale attempts to right his wrongs and stand against the court using his words to defend the accused as a form of redemption. When Reverend Hale enters the county of Salem, he brings with him the demeanor of a respected authority figure. When Reverend Parris remarks about the weight of Hale’s bags, he responds that “they are weighted with authority” (Miller 34). The bag is weighed by the authority of God, who through Hale as a conduit spreads his justice upon the wicked and mercy upon the poor. Hale sets himself up with false authority, believing that his collection of books and artifacts will fend off the demons making their home in Salem. By placing himself in a position of power, he causes the citizens to believe that his word is truth, which eventually leads to the spreading of the witchcraft accusations. Next, when Thomas Putnam tells him that Betty Parris can not stand to hear the Lord’s name, he demands that the citizens listen to him as the sole judge of the affliction: “The devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stones, and I must tell you all that I shall not proceed unless you are prepared to believe me if I should find no bruise of Hell upon her” (Miller 36). The dramatic irony is that the “marks” are not as “definite as stones” as Hale truly thinks. Yet, he uses his position as an “expert” to compel the

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