Reverend Hale's Involvement In The Witch Trials

John Proctor, a character from The Crucible is a Rebel/Misfit Archetype. A Rebel/Misfit is defined as a character that radically rejects the values of a society and the restrictions placed on him or her. I chose to do my research project on John because Proctor is my favorite character from The Crucible and throughout the whole book he was feeling guilty for his actions but wanted to do the right thing. Proctor can also fit into the Hero Archetype for sacrificing his life to save his wife.

During the Witch Trials, Parris’ teachings also revolved more around Satan and a person’s sinful ways. Lastly, the final effect of the Salem Witch Trials was that it affected many individuals personally. Reverend Parris’ reputation became so horrible, they voted him out of the church. Then, John Procter was convicted of witchcraft and hung. Meanwhile, Abigail was driven out of town and thought to have become a prostitute in Boston.

Judge Danforth’s unwavering egotism culminates in the unfortunate deaths of Salem townsfolk. Arthur Miller’s classic play The Crucible demonstrates how the actions of one person can affect many others. Judge Danforth cares more about his own reputation than what is right. Often times people try to think of what is right instead of saving their own face, Judge Danforth is an exception to this stereotype. The Salem Witch Trials were a horrible time where many people lost their lives due to an unjust court system.

His despair was inflicted upon him once he committed adultery with Hester Prynne and decided to keep it secret. “While thus suffering under bodily disease, and gnawed and tortured by some black trouble of the soul…”(Hawthorne 117). The pain came from deep within Dimmesdale, and he believed that one sin can destroy his whole life. Puritanism is now looked upon as one of the hardest religions because of their strictness in their ways of life. They truly believed that if they sinned they would be looked at as if they were scum in the eyes of the church, and this was exactly how Dimmesdale saw himself.

After all the chaos happened Atticus told Jem and Scout, “...you children last night made Walter Cunningham stand in my shoes for a minute. That was enough” (Lee 210). This quote goes well with perspective because when Scout stopped Mr. Cunningham and the mob she made them all realize that they were family men and that they have children of their own. She saved Atticus and Tom Robinson from getting hurt that night at the courthouse. She made them look at things from Atticus's point of view and that's all it took for them to turn around and go back to their home and awaiting family.

The emotions of people can be blinding and problematic. The emotions a person feels can cause people to do unimaginable things to themselves and other people. Throughout the book, people's emotions bring out the worst of the people of Salem. The people of Salem begin accusing people of witchcraft for their own personal vendettas and gain. In the book “ The Crucible” by Arthur Miller the people demonstrate, When reason fails, emotions control and results in the destruction of what is morally right or good.

He doubts his own decisions on those accused of witchcraft and we eventually find him quitting the court. Hale is in a state of anger and disbelief towards the people of Salem with all of the unjust proceedings in the court and the personal vendettas everyone seems to have against each other. Hale’s denouncements of the court proceedings and quitting the job he

In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem believe Maycomb is Unjust because The Maycomb he used to know is not like what it is now, Which is shown when the prejudice members of his community are against Tom, Lula refusing to let Jem & Scout enter their church, and When he was punished for destroying Mrs. Dubose’s flowers. To Start Off, Scout was explaining on how the final verdict of the jury & judge affected Jem & loss faith in the citizens of Maycomb. Scout says, “I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: “Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty…” I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them” (282). Maycomb is an injustice town because as every time the Jury said “guilty” it negatively affected Jem like he was being stab inside which illustrates how he was very confident in knowing that Tom will be acquitted & be found innocent but, after the verdict it had made realizes & lose hope on the members of his community.

Intolerance is important in The Crucible because it demonstrates how fast people’s attitudes and beliefs can change due to an event taking place in their town. Judges Hathorne and Danforth exhibit intolerance towards the people being trialed. If somebody spoke of another person performing witchcraft, the judges would not tolerate it and had that person thrown in jail even if there was no evidence to back up the statement. They were definitely substituting a role of unjustifiable reasoning. Miller uses intolerance to show that the people of Salem, especially the judges, were narrow minded and wanted everything to go their way.

Hale’s confusion gets the best of him, but shows that he does not agree with the girls’ beliefs anymore that the devil has scouted the accused. He realizes that the court is corrupt and what they are doing is unfair, in the sense that believing the girls was wrong. Quitting the court ends Hale’s confidence and shows he is doubting the validity of his own conclusions that he had made initially. The morning that was set for John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and Martha Corey to be hung; Reverend Hale was at the jail trying to get the accused to confess to witchcraft. Hale begs to Danforth, “If you postpone a week and publish to the town that you are striving for their confessions, that speak mercy on your part” (1223).

In The Crucible Thomas Putnam’s main motivations are greed and selfishness. He shows this throughout the book, by accusing people of witchcraft. Thomas Putnam’s brother in law was prevented from being elected the office of minister. “Thomas Putnam felt that his own name and honor of his family had been smirched by the village, and he meant to right matters however he could” (Miller1221). To right his name and honor from being smirched he accused many

I think it is wrong to live with a lie, than die with the truth. The Salem witch trials of 1692 were filled with lies and truths. Because no one wanted to die they lied so they could live and not have a good name, than the ones telling the truth and dying for that truth. I agree with Increase Mather when he said “It would better that ten suspected witches may escape than one innocent person be condemned.” John Proctor said “Because it is my name!

If the town were not fanatical about the witchcraft and focused on obvious truth, John Proctor may have lived to raise his children and live a prosper life but his personal integrity cost him his life. This leads on to character Giles Corey, who demonstrates true personal

Meanwhile apprehension grips Parris’s mind that it also compels him arbitrarily to allege many townspeople. Parris blames others to divert attention away from himself. He worries that if the townspeople learn that his daughter and niece have fiddled with witchcraft, his position as pastor could be expelled. Yet at the same time, in the beginning of the play, because Parris placed the title witch on the heads of even the most pious members of his community, he converts into an overly insecure character. All in all, Parris horrors the loss of his job, others finding fault in him, and

Many of those accused as witches died not just because of the accusers but, because of the unfairness of the trials. The judges of the trials used spectral evidence, ignoring the accused, and the judges were unfair because they believed in witches and want those who were witches dead. In the trials judges used spectral evidence. Spectral evidence is when the accused claim that they saw the spirit of the person on trial do something that they should not have done.