Hale and Parris in Arthur Miller's The Crucible Essay

Thesis Statement: When Reverend Hale first arrives in Salem, he makes accusations towards the wrong people. He later realizes the truth and unsuccessfully tries to make things right.

To start off with one of the main characters of The Crucible─Reverend Samuel Parris─he is a minister of the church in the community who puts his authority as his first priority. On some circumstances, he will also try to cover up things not only for his ministry, but for his family. In the beginning of the play, he finds out about his niece Abigail practicing witchcraft and tries to get her to confess. “Parris: Now look you, child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it” (10). Reverend Parris is accusing Abigail for being associated with witchcraft, at the same time it sounds like a threat to Abigail and himself only

he mood and situtation that he was in. At the end (Act ]I[) John Proctor was

During the era of accused witchcraft in Salem during the 1690’s, the Puritan society revolved heavily on the words and the will of God, bestowed upon it by the reverends and other church officials. Within The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, Reverend Parris is arguably the most liable individual for the grave turn of events in Salem. Parris, the newly appointed reverend of the town, allowed his pride, ego, and greed to cloud his judgement and decision making throughout the duration of the witchcraft accusals. The weak reverend’s inability to speak up for those he knew were falsely accused, in lieu of losing his coveted position, was the true catalyst for the grave events that took place. In Act I, Parris understands that the witchcraft has originated not

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory written about the Salem witch trials in 1692. It includes a number of characters who fully conform to the trials and their consequences, it also contains the opposite, those who do not conform and fight it. Of course, as in any story there are characters in the middle that are not sure which side to take. They go along with it, not willing to stand up, but in their minds they are not completely sure whether or not what they’re doing is right. Reverend Hale is the best example of outward conformity and inward questioning.

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Hale is a dynamic character; although he starts out as a confident, objective, somewhat naive man, he later shows strong characteristics of defiance, bravery, and indignation through indirect characterization, diction, and metaphor.

After all of the witch trials in 1692 concluded a total of 20 people were hanged all because of people craving attention and personal gain. There are three people depicted in Arthur Miller's The Crucible that are most responsible for this and they are, Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Thomas Putnam. Abigail Williams is mostly responsible for the Salem witch trials because she was the first person to start accusing innocent people of witchcraft. Judge Danforth is responsible because he is not concerned about justice, all he cares about is being correct about the witch trials. Lastly Thomas Putnam is guilty of causing the witch trials because he was able to have people accuse other people

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play that takes place in Salem Massachusetts in the 1600s, where a theocracy was in place at the time. The book is a fictional retelling of the Salem witch trials which took place during 1692 and 1693. The story follows a farmer named John Proctor who cheated on his wife with a young girl named Abigail Williams. John’s infidelity to his wife causes him to feel guilty about it throughout the events in the play. Another significant character in the book is Reverend Hale, who came from Beverly to Salem so that he could give his expertise on the topic of the witchcraft. When Reverend Hale arrived, he sparked the fear of witchcraft in the people of Salem. Once the trials began and the amount of people accused of witchcraft increased, Hale started to feel guilty because he was part of the reason why the trials started in the first place. In Act 4, the final act of the play, both Reverend Hale and John Proctor were trying to resolve their inner conflicts.

One of the worst sayings in the entire English language is “opposites attract”. It is a cheap and “easy-way-out” excuse that uses the science of magnetism and energy to explain human emotions like love, and frankly, it is false. In romance, it is nearly impossible to be attracted to someone in a way that is not surface beauty if two people are just too different. Things like political views, food preferences, even sleeping patterns can be detrimental if they are too different. In saying that, it is easy to deduce that most people are not fond of the person they consider their “opposite”, and the same goes for characters in film or literature. For instance, in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, there are many examples of pairs that may seem like

Samuel Parris and John Hale are the two ministers in The Crucible and were initially alike in their attitudes towards witchcraft. However, their personalities show some striking dissimilarities. Unlike Hale, Reverend Parris is characterized by extreme paranoia and egotism. He is very static- his traits and motives remain consistent from the beginning to the end of the play. Although a religious man and believer in witchcraft like Parris, Hale values human life and is motivated by personal beliefs and his sense of morality, disregarding his best interests. He is a very dynamic character, becoming progressively less confident and trusting of law and doctrine as his faith is tested throughout the ordeal.

Arthur Millers The Crucible possesses many examples of interesting character development. A character who one initially finds to be worthy of mercy or pity can easily become the last person deserving of sympathy. This relationship is not only formed between the reader and the characters, but between the characters and the scenario of the story itself. The victim may become the accuser, or the scholar may become the humanitarian. This manner of characterization is best shown in the relationship between Reverend John Hale and Deputy Governor Danforth. Each is objectified to the events in Salem as they come into the situation with no attachments to any of the other characters and are unfamiliar with any of their mannerisms or personalities.

Their backgrounds were similar since they both were Puritans and well educated. However, their personality was completely different to each other. Although it is not very clear in the beginning of the play, as the story goes on, it becomes clear that they are different. The major difference between these characters is that Reverend Parris is extremely greedy and self-centered. He cares a lot about his reputation in the town rather than being a good minister. In Act 1, this is shown when he is talking to Abigail about her actions in the woods the previous night. He says, “ Abigail, I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character” (Miller 11). This shows that he is worried about how this whole situation caused by Abigail might ruin his reputation. Additionally, he says, “ It must come out – my enemies will bring it out. Let me know what you done there. Abigail, do you understand that I have many enemies?” (Miller 10). This is another example that shows instead of being worried about the witchcraft itself, he is more worried about his reputation and the minister position. It is also shown that Reverend Parris is more concerned with his salary and wood than his daughter’s health when John Proctor says, “ Mr. Parris, you are the first minister ever did demand the deed to this house” (Miller 30). On the other hand, Reverend Hale is completely opposite from Reverend Parris. As Reverend Hale is introduced, it is mentioned that Hale once gave a woman he does not know “…his kindness and a few days of rest in his own house” (Miller 33). Unlike Reverend Parris, Hale is very kind that he let a woman stay at his house. In the play, he is also described as a very calm guy. When everyone was panicking about the witchcraft, he stayed calm

In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Reverend Hale betrays his original motivation for coming to Salem (finding the Devil in the village), his profession, and even his beliefs. His ideas betray the Puritan concept of simple mindedness and opens the door for the what is seen in Puritan ideology as sin and the Devil. Miller manipulates Hale’s treachery to create conflict within Salem specifically between the children and adults/cynics

Hale feels tested in his faith in God, and faith in his own abilities. He came to Salem to help the people, and feels he failed everyone; including himself. He blames himself for killing innocent people. He ultimately couldn’t handle this feeling. He starts to crack.

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.