Religion is a fundamental part of life. This especially holds true to John Hale from Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. When Hale first arrived to Salem he has the intention to cleanse the village of all evils and to bring it back to its former peace. When the courts of Massachusetts comes to serve the King’s justice, they would do so only by accepting evidence that the people favored. This caused Hale to question the credibility of the court. The final straw came when John Proctor, a wealthy land owner, was convicted for witchcraft. John Hale is an interesting character because he evolves throughout the play from a gullible Reverend, to a skeptic of the Puritan justice system, and finally altogether quitting the court.
John Hale first came to Salem as a young, naive Reverend who was determined to cure Salem of all its ailments. Rev. Hale hanged a woman for witchcraft in another village before coming to Salem. Because of this, he thought he
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When Mary Warren breaks under the pressure of the courts and accuses Proctor of being a witch Hale, is pushed to his final straw. Hale yells at the top of his lungs, “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!” (199). This shows that Hale has had enough of the court’s shortcomings and decides ultimately to leave. Several months after leaving Salem, Hale returns because he wishes to save the people he damned. When asked about Hale’s reappearance in Salem, Parris recalls, “ Hear me. Rebecca have not given me a word this three month since she came. Now she sits with him, and her sister and Martha Corey and two or three others, and he pleads with them, confess their crimes and save their lives” (125). This shows that Hale is trying to save the people he condemned because he is going to them and trying to convince them to confess to their charges so they won’t be hanged. Hale quits the courts and helped the people he
Hale ends up trying to change the course of the trials, which is ironic, because he was brought into Salem to diagnose witchcraft, only to find out it was fake, and all for attention. At the beginning of the story, John Hale would be described as having a dynamic personality, he came into the village of Salem as an expert on witchcraft, he believed he knew everything there was to know about VooDoo and witches.
No matter how relentless someone can be, acts of atrocity in moments of hysteria can have a large impact on them. This impact can make them change their habits of practice and perception of what is right and wrong. A change in a character’s view of his role could be for better or worse, and on some occasions multiple changes can occur. In the novel, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, Reverend John Hale is introduced as a methodical and precise authority figure. He is summoned to Salem to look over and help ascertain witchcraft in the supposedly afflicted girls.
When Hale entered the story he believed that he was going to be the savior of the town ridding them of witches. When Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor were arrested Reverend Hale was deeply shaken with his beliefs. Hale near the end of the story he tells Elizabeth that you should not have religion when it brings you harm but you should keep faith in God. Reverend Hale near ending of The Crucible is the complete opposite of the Reverend Hale that first entered the story, because he came in believing he was the authority on how to find witches, then he was shaken by arrest of Rebecca and John, and finally by him telling others to throw away religion when it brings harm to
Hale no longer believes in the witch trials. Everything Reverend Hale came to Salem for now no longer means anything to him. By this point Reverend Hale, among others, has become fed up with the pretense and falseness of ‘The Salem Witch Trials’ and wants nothing more than for it to be over. (page 84, act four, Miller, Arthur The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts, Viking Press 1953) “ HALE, quickly to Danforth: Excellency, it is enough he confess himself. Let him sign it, let him sign it.”
It is proven that John Hale does not believe that witches are real and John Proctor is telling the truth that Abigail and the rest of the girls were lying about the people being witches. Abigail told John Proctor that they were pretending because Abigail did not want her name blackened in Salem. Proctor told Hale what Abigail has told him and now Hale is wondering if he is telling the truth. He then finds out that Proctor is telling the truth and Hale realizes that he has killed innocent people. And so it has been demonstrated how John Hale’s character goes from being a witch hunter and later on how he realizes that witches are not real.
In the year of 1692, 19 innocent people were forced to slowly walk towards a rope that in a matter of seconds would end their lives. These horrific events are something portrayed in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible. In Salem, Massachusetts, a mass hysteria violently spread the fear of witchcraft amongst the Puritan village. Reverend Hale, a so called “expert” in demonic arts, was brought in by Salem's most spiritual figure Reverend Parris to demolish any sign of witchcraft from his home. Yet, Hale is overall culpable for the tragedies that struck Salem because of his false accusations and narrow point of view.
¨Hale, continuing to Elizabeth: 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.¨. Hale recognizes the way he had first acted when he was introduced in the play he had false confidence, was falsely assertive, a title of the best witch hunter in that region meant nothing and being a reverend, he had failed miserably to bring justice to the town of Salem. Along with being a failure he has realized that those that he had convicted were innocent and the girls that had played the system were the actual ones guilty and had escaped their well deserved punishment. The whole point of Hale being the tragic hero was that Hale would have been able to prevent all of these things onto the town but having a title does not mean you are qualified for the
Hale is a critical, Christian thinker who questions himself on what is right and wrong. He is a person who wants to know and find the truth with evidence. Hale wants to find the truths in the accusations, differently than Parris. In contrast, Parris is the minister of Salem's church who is paranoid about his name in the village. All Parris wants from the trials is land from people who get hanged, instead of the truth behind it all.
Towards the end, Hale changes from a person who carries his heavy written laws to a person who hates the court. During Act III, after Danforth arrested Proctor, Hale is so angry with the court that he yells, "I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!” (Act 3, 120). The quote might seem really simple, but it is significant because Hale finally figures out that the court system is a failure to the society, and also figures out what he should be go after. As a result in Act 4 when Hale tries to convince Elizabeth to tell Proctor to confess, Hale says, “‘Beware, Goody Proctor cleave to no faith when faith brings blood.
Initially, Hale comes back to salem to try and save the people accused. He tells them that he does not think god
Throughout the play The Crucible, there are several transformations among characters. One strong transformation is that of Reverend Hale. Hale epitomizes a very dynamic character. Throughout all of the drama in Salem, Hale changes drastically from a man with intentions to free the world from the clutches of satan to a person who realizes the Salem witch trials were all based on lies and tomfoolery.
Knowing all of this, Hale becomes desperate to have Elizabeth save her husband and even wishes for him to sin in order to continue living as a role model for the people of Salem. Hale recognizes the significance of each accused on a personal level and he cannot bear to see them suffer for a crime they did not
Reverend Hale is the character that changes the most in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible because his feelings on witchcraft turns from full belief to unbelievable doubt, his thoughts on Proctor changes from thinking that he is evil to thinking that he is a good and honest man, and he switches from doing God’s work to doing the Devil’s. Reverend Hale makes a huge change on his claim of witchcraft. In the beginning of the play when Reverend is called to the town of Salem to see if the reason why Betty and Ruth are unconscious is due to witchcraft he brings with him many books. When Reverend Parris sees this he makes a comment that Hale responds to him explaining his expectations. This shows that Reverend Hale is focused on one thing, finding
In the beginning acts, Hale was trusting the court more than John and was a big part of handling warrants of the accused individuals along with having much confidence in himself, his knowledge of witchcraft, and knowledge of witches in Salem. In Act 2 and 3 in the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the character Reverend Hale was changing a lot. Throughout the first act of this play Reverend Hale had much of his trust in the court and fully believed the devil is in Salem but as the trial begins and goes on things start to change when Hale starts to question the court shown when he pleads
(Miller 1323). Hale shows to be a hero because he is trying to raise awareness of the unfair hangings of the townspeople. Additionally, Hale is exposing the idiocy of the court to the unaccused citizens of Salem. Reverend Hale shows heroism through his actions, but Elizabeth Proctor also shows heroism through her supreme