To start off with one of the main characters of The Crucible─Reverend Samuel Parris─he is a minister of the church in the community who puts his authority as his first priority. On some circumstances, he will also try to cover up things not only for his ministry, but for his family. In the beginning of the play, he finds out about his niece Abigail practicing witchcraft and tries to get her to confess. “Parris: Now look you, child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it” (10). Reverend Parris is accusing Abigail for being associated with witchcraft, at the same time it sounds like a threat to Abigail and himself only …show more content…
In Act 3 of The Crucible, he is one of the judges of court during a trial where John Proctor ended up being arrested for witchcraft. “Hale: I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court! He slams the door to the outside behind him” (111). Hale said this after not being able to persuade to the court that Proctor isn’t a very bad person as he seems. By reacting to the pressure of the people, he just leaves or I guess you could say “rage quits.” This next part in The Crucible shows Reverend Hale trying to do the good thing again, for John Proctor who is about to be hanged. “Hale: Woman, plead with him! He starts to rush out the door, and then goes back to her. Woman! It is pride, it is vanity. She avoids his eyes, and moves to the window. He drops to his knees. Be his helper! - What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth? Go to him, take his shame away” (134)! Reverend Hale was pressured by the fact that Proctor was going to be hanged and he almost fully confessed himself and Hale saw the good person in him. However, when Hale pleaded with Elizabeth Proctor, he begged for her to take the shame away until Elizabeth pretty much could not do anything about it. In the end, like a good person like Reverend Hale should be when put under pressure, is to try to do the right
In act one of The Crucible, there exist two major conflicts which are underlying causes of the witchcraft hysteria. The conflict between Reverend Parris and the village leads Reverend Parris to make decisions which the average minister may not make in order to protect himself. These decisions will eventually create poor results and serve to feed the general hysteria. The conflict between Abigail and the Proctors leads Abigail to do things which are highly indicative of witchcraft. While there are many reasons for the hysteria, the conflicts between Reverend Parris and the village and between Abigail and the Proctors are truly what blow things out of proportion.
Reverend Hale wanted to preserve his integrity and maintain his honesty as a priest. However, that no longer was the case when the court continued to only believe Abigail when it came to the witchcraft. Reverend Hale could not take it anymore because he knew that Abigail was lying, but the court would not understand and just kept believing in her. He was basically the only one how slowly started to realize what she was doing and Hale started to defend John Proctor. When Reverend Hale was at the court he just could not take it anymore so he wanted to leave Salem. That is why he said,“I quit this court!” (Miller 120). This is when Reverend Hale is done with the court and leaves Salem. This also makes Reverend Hale a tragic hero because he realized that he needed to leave the court and Salem. He did not feel that the court was doing the right thing for the people. The court was only believing Abigail and would not listen to anyone else. Reverend Hale was on John Proctor’s side and he knew that what Proctor was saying about Abigail was true. Abigail only made up these lies because she wanted Elizabeth Proctor dead so she can be with John Proctor. An article said, “in The Crucible the religious authorities are villainous, seeking to force people to act against their consciences to save themselves—to sacrifice their souls to save their bodies in the name of fighting the devil” (Puckett 1). This
The play The Crucible by Arthur Miller tell the story of Reverend Hale and the witch trials in the town of Salem,Massachusetts. In the play, Reverend Hale was called to Salem because Betty,the daughter of local Reverend Parris, will not wake up after she was found dance around a cauldron in the woods. Hale examines her, and concludes that the devil has bewitched people in Salem. Later in the play, Hale realizes that maybe hr is wrong about the devil. He tries to save John Proctor, a man accused of being a witch or a warlock, but Proctor refuse to confess to a crime he didn't commit to escape being hung. Hale tries to convince Proctor's wife to influence John to agree to a confession. He tells her “ Cleave to no faith when faith brings blood”
Hale starts believing Proctor and Marry and he becomes convinced that there telling the truth. But it is too late now and the trials are no longer in his hands but rather in those of Danforth's and the theocracy. The failure of his attempt to help them turns Hale into a broken man. As his belief in witchcraft falters so does his faith in the law. He then tries to get the people accused to lie just to save there own lives but in the end he fails at that because most people didn't want to ruin their names. So Hale after all turned out to be a good
Hale is to blame at the end of Act 1 for starting the hysteria because he began looking for witches. In this example, reverend Hale is looking for characteristics in Betty of witchcraft, “...If the devil is in her, you will witness some frightful wonders… Stand close in case she flies.” This is an example of why Hale is to blame because he is stirring the fear into the town by looking for these specific traits of witches. In this quote, Hale is beginning to blame Tituba for casting her spirit upon Betty, “ You have sent your spirit upon this child, have you not? Are you gathering souls for the devil?” This example shows how Reverend Hale is to blame for hysteria because he was blaming Tituba in front of multiple towns people, arising fear into
In the early 1962’ through 1963’ cases as “Salem witch trials” were taken place in Province of Massachusetts Bay in where Reverend Hale in “The Crucible,” by Arthur Miller was brought forward to Samuel Parris for assistance. This is where the proceedings and deceitful tragedies occur. Where Reverend Hale will be manipulated, deceived, praised, and exalted of his actions. But the will of this man will be changed during his whole experience in Salem.
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.
Hale was once a distinguished Reverend but now his opinion doesn’t matter in his own profession. Reverend Hale shows distraught in the Salem Witch Trials during Act 4 with his actions, statements, and through other people’s opinions of
The Crucible a tragic story .In the Crucible by Arthur Miler , A tragic story explains the events of the Salam witch trials. The Salam witch trails occurred in colonial Massachusetts1692 1693 . More than 200 people were accused of practicing witch craft-and twenty were executed , one pressed. There are just a few people that were most responsible for the Salam Witch Trails. For example ; Abigail Williams , Deputy Danforth , John Hail , for the deaths of others.
Malcolm X once said, “If you don’t stand up for something you will fall for anything” (“Stand”). This quote is very similar to how Hale acts in The Crucible. The Crucible is a tale that takes place in the late 1600’s in a town named Salem. In Salem, a young woman named Abigail spread rumors of witchcraft, and she started to blame people so she would not get blamed either. These rumors turned into a huge trial where people were hung for telling the truth. In this story, Reverend Hale is sent to Salem to help solve these problems and is a great representation of how a person should stick up for what they think is right. Reverend Hale shows this by gaining trust with the people in Salem, trying to go against the court, and standing up for John
In the play written by Arthur Miller, one of the characters, Reverend Hale, goes through a transformation from the beginning, to the end of the play. He changes from a know-it-all, arrogant person to an open minded human being, who wants nothing but the truth.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, witchcraft is arising in Salem, Massachusetts and Reverend John Hale is the one at fault. Reverend Hale is a spiritual doctor who was chosen to come to salem to investigate what was going on. Numerous people were being accused of their involvement in witchcraft and were put to trial. Some town people confessed but some had nothing to confess, leading them to be hung or stoned to death. There are many justifications why the events in Salem occurred and the author brings them to the reader's attention, more than once. He shows them through many flaws. Reverend Hale is foolish, headstrong, and his self righteousness make him the one at blame for the Salem witch trials.
Afterwards, Hale tries to convince those accused to confess to witchcraft in reparation to not hang. Hale is trying to do the best thing for the people of Salem this whole time, but he did not know that he was in the wrong; when came to a realization, Hale tries to find a solution that would fix the mistakes he had made. Even though he corrected his mistakes, his actions were still wrong in the end. People can try to do the right thing, but end up doing wrong. In order to keep the peace, people should always try to do what is right when they realize it is doing more harm than
The truth is a puzzle, never knowing where the pieces go and honestly, hard to put together. In Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible,” Reverend Hale is placed in Salem to investigate the witch trial accusations; but fails in his attempts and ends up with more blood on his hands then intended. Since his arrival, Hale has devoted everything to helping the people of Salem. However, when a plethora of false accusations start to unravel the village he is left with the realization that his role in the events were not justified and questions his own morals and abilities to distinguish a witch. Unable to handle this fallibility, Hale solely focuses on reversing his hasty charges and saving the lives of those accused .
Some characters in “The Crucible” include Abigail, Reverend Parris, and John Proctor. In order to understand the main conflict of the play, one must understand each character’s motivation and weaknesses. Reverend Parris is the preacher of Salem, and holds himself accountable for directing the people of Salem to God. Parris, however, is deeply insecure about his position in the town, which later on causes many of his actions to be rooted from insecurity. He is afraid of losing his job as minister, and encourages a fear of God. Abigail, who is