The 2016 election had a running theme: overconfidence. During the primaries, most people were sure Jeb Bush would win and become the Republican nominee. Once Donald Trump won the primaries instead, people were confident that he would lose handily to Hillary Clinton. During all of this, Trump was confident he could run the most powerful country in the world. Overconfidence oftentimes leads to unexpected and unwanted outcomes, as Arthur Miller shows in The Crucible. In the book, Reverend Hale starts as an outsider, eager to ply his trade and rid Salem of any witches that might be there. As the town descends into paranoia, he realizes his mistakes and tries to redeem himself, only to find that it is too late. This character arc clearly expresses the theme that the spread of overconfidence is the most dangerous thing that can happen in a community. Miller introduces Hale directly as an …show more content…
(44) Parris is the first of many in Salem to “catch” Hale’s overconfidence. Because of Hale’s influence, Parris begins to become the most fervent witch hunter in Salem. Act 1 serves as a very effective introduction of Hale and the themes related to him, as it shows how quickly confidence can spread and threaten a community. In Act 2, Hale is trying to justify his own confidence after having it shaken by guilt. He enters the scene with “a quality of deference, even of guilt, about his manner,” (62). He feels remorse, as his actions have condemned many people to hang by this point. He is still not, however, entirely convinced he has done wrong. He comes to the Proctors’ house to test their character and reassure himself should they be accused: HALE: I am a stranger here, as you know. And in my ignorance I find it hard to draw a Clear opinion of them that come accused before the court. And so this afternoon, and now tonight, I go from house to house--I come now from Rebecca Nurse’s house
All of a sudden there was a witch outbreak in Salem Massachusetts. The following day the girls were found in bed inert. The doctor attempted to figure out the sickness the girls could have. However, he could not give the sickness any name. Then Reverend Hale was called in to help the town cure its unnatural problem. Throughout the play Reverend Hale contributed to both sides of the arguments. At the beginning he believed the court was doing God’s job. Towards the end his character changes and is less in favor of the court and more in favor for the people being wrongly accused. Reverend Hale’s is seen to be independent, confident and outspoken. These traits end up changing towards the end of the play. Reverend Hale is a dynamic character
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Reverend Hale’s attitude and beliefs are changed completely as the play progresses. After Reverend Parris is a witness to girls dancing in the woods and also when his daughter becomes very ill, he calls Rev. Hale to Salem. Hale’s job is to find any form of witchcraft and to get rid of it. Over the course of the play, Rev. Hale experiences a transformation in his beliefs from the beginning of the play to the end. Reverend Hale has three different emotions throughout the play. When Hale is introduced in the the beginning of the play, he is passionate and very confident about finding witchcraft and getting rid of it. In the middle of the play, Hale is frustrated and he does not know who to trust nor
In this act, and with much consideration (adverb phase #2), Reverend Hale seems to be less full of himself, and more hesitant. He talks about how he has a difficult time drawing “a clear opinion of them that come accused before the court,” because he doesn’t know the people of their town (adverb phrase #3) (Miller 1169). This is only one of Hale’s problems as the play keeps moving along. Act three brings more complications and hesitance from Hale. Proctor’s wife has now been seized and taken to court, along with others accused of witchcraft. During these court sessions, Reverend Hale is beginning (gerund #2) to realize that the court really is unfair (noun clause #1). For example, even though evidence is given by Giles Corey (adjective clause #2), the judge refuses to accept (infinitive #2) it and simply asks for more evidence (Miller 1195). Now, Hale is starting to become frustrated. He’s also beginning to realize that he has made some aberrations (noun clause #2). When John Proctor is sentenced to be hanged for witchcraft, Hale respondes to the prejudice court by declaring , “I denounce these proceedings! I quit this court!” (Miller 1213), and proceeds to walk out of the courthouse. This is only the beginning of Hale’s
Artur Miller calls his play the crucible. The crucible means a severe test. In the crucible the characters faith is being tested. The town doesn’t show their true faith because they don’t practice what they preach. Due to the town lack of faith when they are tested some fail miserably.
When the play begins John Hale is much like Reverend Parris- he is naïve and controlled by the dogmas of the church, but unlike Parris, he truly believes that what he is doing is right while Parris's intentions were never pure. When he first enters the play, he is the force behind the witch trials- probing for confessions and encouraging people to testify. As the play continues, however, he experiences a transformation, making him one of the most dynamic characters in the play. He begins to empathize and has independent revelations regarding the nature of the trials after listening to John Proctor and Mary Warren.
People have a way of seeing what they want to see, which plays a key role in creating the hysteria that exists in Salem in The Crucible and how people today react to false information. In his novel, Arthur Miller describes the Salem Witch Trials from a satirical point of view of McCarthy’s Second Red Scare, however, he does a brilliant job in portraying the thoughts of those afflicted in the time. Within any satire, connections can be made from the literature to current events. In the play, Reverend Parris invites Hale to Salem to investigate the condition of Ruth Putnam. Hale, a proclaimed witchcraft specialist, brings with him the very idea of witchcraft to the town, sparking the attention of the people. Convinced that witchcraft is among them, the court decides to take spectral evidence into account, allowing opportunities for corruption.
In the play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller there are prominent examples of doubt in the second act. Act 2 talks about a married man named John Proctor, who is rumored to have had intimate relations with Abigail Williams. Abigail is a young girl who still believes Proctor has feelings for her even after he denies their affair in hopes to save his reputation. In addition, Proctor is married to Elizabeth, who begins to question her husband’s relationship with Abigail. During Act 2, Elizabeth loses all faith that Proctor did not have an affair when he admitted he had been alone with Abigail for a moment. Elizabeth believes Proctor would testify against Abigail’s false accusations about the women of Salem being witches if he did not have
In The Crucible there are many smaller arguments occurring. One of these smaller arguments is trust. This is an argument because consistently John Proctor argues why all of the townspeople trust Abigail and the girls and question everyone except them. John says, “If she is innocent! Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers?” (Miller 77). John says this to Hale when his wife, Elizabeth, is accused of witchcraft. John knows that Elizabeth is innocent but no one will question Abigail, which is relating to trust since all of townspeople fully trust Abigail they don’t believe that she would lie about Elizabeth being a witch.
American playwright, Arthur Miller, in his play The Crucible, implies that witch hunts still exist in American society. Miller supports this claim by drawing parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and the Senator Joseph Mccarthy Trials. His purpose is to warn his readers of the dangers of mass hysteria. He uses emotional appeals and logic to convince the reader that mass “hunts” are still a danger to Americans today. The central way, however, that Miller achieves his topmost goal of displaying the hazards of Individuality vs. Ideology is through the expressive characterization of Reverend John Hale. John hale is an example of outward conformity because he believes in the devil in the beginning, he sees that the girls are
One of authority figure in The Crucible, was Reverend Hale. Hale went to Salem in response in need of a “spiritual doctor” to evaluate the town. The reason he was summoned was to diagnose if there was witchcraft was present, then come up with a cure by removing the “infected people”, and the people of Salem will not be satisfied until he does. In result to all the commotion of unnatural events taking in place in Salem such as: Tituba’s ability to conjure spirits from beyond the grave, dancing in the woods, the death of the seven children who belonged to Thomas and Ann Putman, Betty’s illness, the strange book that were in possession of Martha Corey, and so on. Hale starts to become
As a struggling minister with a generally low-public opinion by the residents of Salem, the trials filled Parris’ meetinghouse with distressed congregants looking for guidance and support to deal with the events overwhelming their community. Without the existence of the trials and the fear they induced, the conclusion can be drawn that Parris’ worries of possible ousting as town minister may have come true. (In fact, a few years after the end of the trials, when the villagers’ finally felt confident that their troubles with witchcraft were finished, Parris’ concerns proved legitimate when the town voted to oust him as their minister.)
Faith has long been a resounding tool of both great accomplishments and terrible monstrosities. It has a strong influence over many a people. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Reverend Hale makes note of this. “Cleave to no faith where faith brings blood” is an important theme statement of the play. Indeed, it resonates throughout other books as well. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, A Tale of Two Cities, and To Kill a Mockingbird all illustrate the quote’s truth. To begin explaining the comment, Uncle Tom’s Cabin shows a defining instance of this.
The scent of gunpowder and a terrifyingly gruesome landscape, splattered with blood and human remains, seems unimportant to soldiers who are filled with indescribable feelings of excitement and celebration as they see a white flag risen in the distance. America had just won the Revolutionary War and was officially free of British rule. Before the war had started, rioting against Britain was absolutely unthinkable because it was an act of treason. As colonists were becoming more and more outraged with oppressive British rule, many cowered in fear at the thought of rebellion. In present day however, it has been determined that only an undoubtedly fearless group of individuals can conquer an unjust authority. This raises the question, where does confidence come from and how influential can it be? These ideas are explored in two works of American literature: The Crucible by Arthur Miller and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. The Crucible is a play depicting the harsh reality of hysteria masking a society’s ability to make clear judgements. The play is centered around the horrors of the Salem Witch Trials and the how the court puts people into stressful situations where there is no way out. Therefore, one either lives with a damaged reputation forever by confessing to a crime they did not commit or that person is put to death. However, certain characters try to find a way to show society their wrongdoings once they are
The tragic events of the Salem witch trials tested the morality of several individuals, who abided to a government based on religious intolerance and limitation. Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” highlights the detrimental effects of the religious court, and the impact Puritan societal norms had on its citizens. Reverend Hale, a protagonist in the play serves as a balance between morality versus and the religious conformity that took place within society. His transformation throughout the play demonstrates his true intention in doing what is right and abiding by the correct ideals, instead of following the damaging priorities enrooted in the theocratic system. Throughout “The Crucible,” Reverend Hale transfers from adhering to a theocracy to prioritizing the true value of life, revealing his maintenance of a strong moral code.
Even if he knew what was true and what was false keeping his reputation in tact was more important. Contrasting from both of the first characters Reverend Hale was more of a guy who wanted to do right. He knew that his job was on the line but instead of worrying he tried to find justice for the people who were being hanged. His name wasn’t as important to him as getting justice was. In act four Hale finally starts to realize all what he's been doing wrong, and so was watching those innocent people getting blamed for something that wasn’t even real. When trying to give Elisabeth advice Hale says, “Let you not mistake your duty as I mistook my own. I came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved, earring 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. Beware, Goody Proctor- cleave to no faith when faith brings blood. It is mistaken law that leads you to sacrifice. LIfe, woman, life is God’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the 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