Reverend Hale The Crucible

People change from events that happen to them either in a good way or bad. In the play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller a group of teen girls are found in the forest dancing around a cooking pot and chanting a song. In Salem all the citizens are Puritans. The forest is a forbidden place to go and dancing is banned. The girls are all put on trial for witchcraft after being caught by the the minister of the church,Pariss. The girls then all come together and say that they saw Lucifer and certain people in the city were with him. The people accused of doing witchcraft are all jailed and forced to confess for things they didn’t do. The people who change the most throughout the play are Reverend Hale and Mary warren.

In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, there are some similarities and differences between Mr. Hale and I. Mr. Hale is a Reverend from Beverly, who’s called to Salem by Reverend Parris to help wake his daughter, Betty, who fell ill after being caught in the woods “summoning” the devil. While dealing with accusations of witchcraft, Mr. Hale acts a certain way which can define his character. When he first arrives in Salem he remains hopeful. Towards the middle of the play he tries to help more by getting involved with the court trials, which ends up causing bigger problems. At the end of the play, Mr. Hale notices the good in those who are in jail and goes out of his way to help them. Overall, Mr. Hale’s character is considered optimistic and valuable, which relates to myself.

“Why it is simple I come to do the Devil’s work. I come to counsel Christians they should belie themselves. There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!!” (201). This quote is so powerful to the audience, Hale is admitting he feels guilty. He feels he has killed innocent people. How many people had to die for him to finally realize? In act four, Hale also begs Elizabeth Proctor into getting her to make John confess. Elizabeth would argue that it isn’t her job to control him. “You know, do you not, that I have no connection with the court? I come of my own, Goody Proctor. I would save your husband’s life, for if he is taken I count myself his murdered. Do you understand me?” (202). Hale is saying he has no connection to the court's decisions. He comes to help Salem not destroy it. If John decides not to confess, and gets hung, Hale won’t think he did enough to help him, he could’ve done more. If John dies, with Hale knowing he’s an innocent man, Hale will call himself John’s

Reverend Hale became so disillusioned that he was a witch expert who was helping cleanse Salem of witchcraft. He came into the play with high hopes that he would be able to prove his abilities and to show what he can do and being all stuck up about himself. Without knowingly that he was the one who aided in the innocent people that were hanged and trialed for something that could not even be proven with evident but with just by the word of others. When he was going around Salem asking people questions of what they thought about the witch trials and other things possibly he was beginning the doubt since the people had said that certain people were good puritans and they saw absolutely no signs of them using witchcraft. Particularly when he questions John and Elizabeth Proctor who of which John point out so much evidence that Hale was seriously

In the beginning of the play, Reverend Hale believes that by condemning people of witchcraft, he is saving people from sin; towards the end of the play, he realizes that the accusations against innocent people are unjust because they do not have substantial evidence. People are being accused by him and he uses his “understanding of witchery” to state that, “The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are

It is in the second act that the change in Reverend Hale’s character happens as he begins to doubt the truth of the witchcraft accusations. As Hale enters the Proctors’ house in Act 2, on page 62, “there is a quality of deference, even of guilt, about his manner now.” His worn out demeanor is much different than the eager one in his first introduction and the reason for that is he has been visiting all those whose names have been mentioned in court. It can be concluded that investigating all those accused and having sparked all the names from his first accusation of Tituba, has tired him out and made him feel responsible for there being so many. After being questioned by John Proctor about considering if people are possibly lying to spare their lives, the doubt that Hale holds is first seen. On page 69, Hale responds to Proctor, “I—I have indeed.” By admitting to his suspicion, Hale confirms the weakness of his trust in the trials and opens the potential for his change. Although accepting that some of the accused might be innocent, it is only the possibility of such and his belief that there is evil in Salem does still exists. Hale

Secondly, after Hale returns he wants to try and help postpone the hangings because he knows the accused are innocent. He returns just in time for the day John Proctor is to hang. He comes back to town because he knows that John is truly innocent. He has changed into a better man and he wants to now save the lives of those who he had a help in condemning. So he says to Danforth, “Excellency, if you postpone a week and publish to the town that you are striving for their confessions, that speak mercy on your part, not faltering.” (Miller 130) Hale is trying to show them, that they are helping the Church rid of evil by postponing the hangings and having the accused confess to dealing with the devil. Hale has become more desperate because he wants the accused to live; he blames himself for them being accused and not seeing that the accusations were false earlier. Hale came the first time to rid the town of what he thought was evil, and now he has returned to save the lives of the so called “evil people”.

Those girls are frauds! You condemn an honest man!” (Miller 49), indicating although Hale originally thought he had discovered concrete evidence, he realizes the “witches” are innocent. This reveals his honest and just character, proving Hale as a person does not change, even if his perception and opinion does. “You must pardon them. They will not budge. The sun will rise in a few minutes. Excellency, I must have more time” (Miller 53). Revealing his character isn’t evolving throughout the play, but he remains the same fair and honorable man, specifically during the trials. Hale states “Excellency, if you postpone a week, and publish to the town that you are striving for their confessions, that speak mercy on your part, not faltering” (Miller 54), again displaying the Reverend’s empathetic and remorseful personality. Once again, Hale’s character provides a lesson for every reader-to remain sensible and fair even if others around you are not; however, never allow your trust and faith to be taken advantage of because this only hurt Hale in the end.

Reverend Hale was a complex character whose changes could be observed through his actions and motivations. Hale shifted from being a devote Puritan to abandoning his faith entirely. He went from fully believing in the trials to damning them and becoming consumed by guilt because of them. Hale’s complexity adds to the play by showing how intense the trials were and how even the most devote were

Thesis Statement: When Reverend Hale first arrives in Salem, he makes accusations towards the wrong people. He later realizes the truth and unsuccessfully tries to make things right.

As the play progressed into the further acts there begins to be a change in Reverend Hale, in that he begins to use his reason over the idea of law. You begin to see Hale not rejecting the ideas of the people being accused in the name of law, but instead he begins to start to defend the people who are currently being prosecuted as he makes comments against the court. An example of this is when he gets to the point where he cannot accept the actions of the court in arresting Giles Corey and John Proctor and says, “I denounce these proceedings! I quit this court!” (111). This is Reverend Hale’s first time actually standing up to the court and taking down the courts actions. He is clearly showing a major change by turning down the idea of law in order to defend reason. In the story Reverend Hale acknowledges his change by saying, “Let you not mistake your duty as I mistook my own. I came into this village like a bridegroom 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”

      Reverend Hale is another character that changes during the course of "The Crucible." Upon his entrance in the midst of Act I, he is depicted as a strong, knowledgeable intellect. His intelligence seems to leave no room for compassion. This is evident by his interrogations which took place during Act III, the Trial, as well as the biographical information provided in Act I of "The Crucible." However, his emotions do come out in Act IV. He appears sympathetic and kindhearted while begging the women in prison to confess to save their lives.

The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is a play that takes place in the sixteen nineties during the famous but tragic witch trials. Reverend Hale who is a minister and an expert of the demonic arts and witchcraft is sent from East Hanover to Salem where there is a spreading fear of witchcraft. When Hale arrives in Salem he finds the entire town in total chaos. At the beginning Hale is adamant in believing that they’re where witches and that nothing but good could come of his being there. Near the end when the truth has been exposed, Hale with so much blood on his head pleads : ‘‘ I come to do the Devil’s work. I come to counsel Christians they should belie themselves. There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on

Samuel Parris and John Hale are the two ministers in The Crucible and were initially alike in their attitudes towards witchcraft. However, their personalities show some striking dissimilarities. Unlike Hale, Reverend Parris is characterized by extreme paranoia and egotism. He is very static- his traits and motives remain consistent from the beginning to the end of the play. Although a religious man and believer in witchcraft like Parris, Hale values human life and is motivated by personal beliefs and his sense of morality, disregarding his best interests. He is a very dynamic character, becoming progressively less confident and trusting of law and doctrine as his faith is tested throughout the ordeal.

Proctor is later found guilty and he is ordered to be taken to jail. With anger, Hale speaks out, “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court” (1151). Hale can no longer take part in a court system that hangs innocent people. He publicly declares that the court’s rulings are wrong which reveal his frustration and his rejection to the court. Reverend Hale is no longer the same man who had his faith in the court when he had first arrived in Salem.