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Reverend Hale As A Hero In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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A hero in most stories is someone who saves the day by defying the standards set for them and rising above the present evil. However in The Crucible, Reverend Hale brings about a new kind of hero. A hero who chooses to surrender to the evil rather than defying the situation in which he was put. Hale, while intelligent, is extremely naive towards the beginning and is encouraging people to testify. As the trials go on, however, he begins to break down as more and more people are convicted and tries to have people to surrender to the trials by confessing instead of defying and being hung. The moment Hale enters the town of Salem, he brings about him an aura of sophistication and intelligence. He was called to the town to investigate the murmurs of witchery having previously encountered witches in his own town of Beverly. When the townspeople of Salem first see him “he appears loaded down with a dozen heavy books” (478). The presence of Hale and his books puts many town members at ease because of the implied intelligence that he must have. …show more content…

One of the first instances in which Hale tries to seek out more witches from a person who has already been accused is the scene in which Tituba was accused of witchcraft by Abigail. He asks her if the devil has presented himself to her and when she confirms this, he asks if there was “another person [...] perhaps another person in the village” (483). Hale and the rest of the court use this method many times to try to find out of all witches that are in the town. However, this method is only used by Hale a select number of times before he turns from the court to try to stop the

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