Nathan Hale: A Well-Known American Hero

There have been many prominent leaders that have molded America into what it is today, Lee is one of them. Robert E. Lee was born in Virginia, January 19, 1807, although one historian believes has was born one year earlier (Wikipedia.com 1). Little is actually known about his childhood, and Lee scarcely mentioned it as an adult. His father, Henry “Light Horse” Lee, left him and his family at a young age and never returned. In 1825, Robert E. Lee attended West Point and graduated second in his class in 1829. He never received a single demerit in his four years there. This training shaped him into the great leader he became.

When Reverend Hale first Appeared in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, he was very different from the person shown at the end of the play ...At first Hale believed that he was to be helpful and that he was doing the right thing, but by the end of the play he was stuck trying to fix his horrifying mistake, weighed down by the guilt from the lives of those killed.

In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, many characters change throughout the story. One that stands out is Reverend John Hale. In the beginning he believes the false accusations of Abigail and the other girls. After listening to John Proctor and Mary Warren he realizes their story is more believable. It broke him to know that he was at fault for 19 innocent deaths. This experience changes him from being a confident man, who believed in the law and the witch trials to a humble and hurt man.

Adventure! Conspiracies! Tragedy! All of this and more is what Sophia Calderwood experiences in the novel, “Sophia’s War,” by Avi. Sophia’s simple life as a 12 year old New York City girl living in the times of the American Revolutionary War gets turned upside down after witnessing the hanging of the famous American spy, Nathan Hale. Sophia claims this to be “the beginning of my extraordinary adventures.” On page 9 of “Sophia’s War,” the text states, “Over time, his [Nathan Hale’s] death proved of greater consequence than his life. Without any doubt, it altered the history of my country as it altered mine. Indeed, what I had just witnessed was the beginning of my extraordinary adventures.” As you can see, Sophia is foreshadowing her future

The American Revolution marked the history of many heroic events that immaculately stand as true inspirations for the generations to come in the United States. Even today, the gallantry of a few soldiers that won independence for the country is not only kept in the hearts of the people but run in the American blood to demonstrate acts of valor at times of war and hardships. One such story recorded in the history dates back to 1776, about a sixteen-year old juvenile, Joseph Plumb Martin, joined the Rebel Infantry and recorded his tribulations about forty-seven years in a memoir titled as “A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier”.

Hero: A person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities; however, heroism is not synonymous with perfection. Man can be a hero in spite of having some flaws. This is apparent in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a story about the Salem Witch Trials in which Abigail Williams accuses dozens of innocent people of witchcraft. Despite being flawed, John Proctor, Reverend Hale, and Elizabeth Proctor can demonstrate their heroism in The Crucible.

Miller describes Hale as conceiving of himself like a young doctor on his first call. Hale arrives n Salem overflowing with confidence and carrying big, heavy books. When Parris comments on the weight of Hale’s books he replies, “They must be, they are waited with authority.” Hale means that the books have all the answers to Salem’s problems. Hale is overflowing with confidence because he has never experienced failure. He does not think he will have any trouble ridding Salem of its troubles. When Hale starts his investigation of Salem he begins to believe witchcraft could be responsible. When Parris tells Hale about the night he found the girls dancing in the forest, and Hale tells Parris that he wants to talk to those girls. Once Hale starts asking the girls what happened in the forest, they think they might hang for witchcraft. Because they think they are in danger of being hanged, the girls begin to beg forgiveness from God and confess to Hale who they saw with the devil. Hale believes he has cured Salem’s problem, “Glory to God!. It is broken, they are free!” Hale exclaims. Hale believes he has cured the problem so quickly because he came in to Salem with so much confidence and he did not believe he could

Hale becomes a sensible man in act IV as he says, “Life, [Elizabeth], life is God’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious may justify taking of it. I beg you, woman, prevail upon your husband to confess. Let him give his lie. Quail not before God’s judgement in this, for it may well be God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride” (132). Hale wants Goody Proctor to convince her husband to confess so that he could be redeemed. Furthermore, Hale goes to the point of denouncing the court to be forgiven but it is too late. It is very unusual of him to denounce the court but he does it anyway, “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!” (120) because he is a prestigious man who thought of the court as the high regime. Nearing the end of the book, Hale realizes that he has been deceived by the cunning Abigail and all of the people he saw to were going to be hung. Then again, before he realized his mistake and asked for redemption he was confident that he knew these people were victims of witchcraft, “Excellency, I have signed seventy-two death warrants; I am a minister of the Lord, and I dare not take a life without there be a proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it” (99). Hale is a very confident minister but he slowly transforms into a sensible man and realizes that he has been signing innocent people off

Reverend Hale's downfall in the novel was his quick assumption that there was witchcraft in Salem. Everyone's fear of the unknown and the chance of witches being present in Salem caused many deaths due to jumping to conclusions. Although he had the best intentions to bring justice to Salem, he made an improper call. He realizes his error and tries with all he has to make it right, but fails. His despair and weeping show he truly cared, and it shows what a respectable man he is. In real life and in this fiction story, Hale truly did all he could to help Salem,

Hale was the only character out of the others that didn’t try to save his life. He tried to save others’ lives. Abigail betrayed Tituba by accusing her of witchcraft and making her drink blood. She betrayed Sarah Good and Goody Osburn, when she said she saw them with the devil, which sent them to jail and later, the gallows. Abigail betrayed Mary by accusing her of sending a cold wind at her, a shadow, and a yellow bird while in the court. Mary betrayed John by telling the judges that he made her sign her name in the Devil’s book. As a result, he was later hung. Mercy betrayed Mary and Parris. She joined in on convincing the judges that Mary was sending wind at her, causing her to, ‘freeze,’ and a bird at her and the other girls as well as Abigail. Hale betrayed the court as well as his own religious beliefs. Hale betrayed the court, trying to save John, and prevent more hangings, which was against the court’s request. He betrayed his beliefs of religion because he no longer had faith in a religion that allowed the church to hang innocent people. As a result of fear and betrayal, twenty-four innocent people died in the Salem witch

In act 1 and 2 in the play ,The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the character Reverend Hale was introduced and learned what his role was. Reverend Hale was a man nearing his forties and was a high-status intellectual who was an expert in witchcraft (Miller 155). In this act Hale said that he believes there always will be someone with the devil(Miller 155). Hale was siding with the court in this act and signing death warrants along with believing in these accusations fully as shown in his visit to the Proctors when he said there is too much evidence to deny the Devil is in Salem (Miller 171). Also, Hale almost played as an interrogator when he was giving rapid fire questions to John about his Christian character and if he goes to church in his visit to the Proctor house (Miller 171). 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.

Reverend Hale goes on an emotional journey in the novel. His mind and heart are being twisted and turned when he starts to realize that things are not what they seem. His faith is shaken and watches as Salem falls partly due to his own fallacy.

In a spiritual-judicial endeavor, a priest loses his sense of self, his piety, and his sanity. In ‘The Crucible By Arthur Miller’, when Reverend Hale first stepped into the light, he was very pious and very confident in his mission to eradicate witchcraft in Salem. Though as the play progresses Hale’s demeanor changes, communicating a sort of despair in the way he carries himself. Throughout The Crucible, during the Salem Witch Trials, Reverend Hale slowly changes from a ‘confident man with a plan’, to a haggard preacher who seems to be losing himself amongst the chaos of these colonial trials based off of lies. After a life-altering experience, Hale is never again the same person he started out as.

My hero’s primary occupations were printer, moralist, essayist, civic leader, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, postmaster, and philosopher.