How Does Hale Change In The Crucible

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

Hale requires everyone who is accused of being a witch to go to court and agree that they are witches in order to prevent being hanged. If they admit that they aren’t a witch they would be hanged immediately. Hale seems to be very involved with the accusations, questioning those that are accused everything they know about god and the church (asking Hale to recite the 10 commandments, questioning the victims’ attendance in church, baptism, and things he sees as strange). When Hale goes to John Proctor’s house we witness the interrogation process: “I thought, sir, to put some questions as to the Christian character of this house, if you’ll permit me…I note that you are rarely in the church on Sabbath day…how comes it that only two [boys] are baptized” (2.621-671)? Later on in the play, when Proctor is testifying in court, they mystery starts to unravel inside of Hale’s head. At the end of Proctor’s trial, he yells that he no longer supports what is going on after Judge Danforth is unwilling to listen to Proctor’s testimony that the whole thing is pretense: “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court” (3.1499-1500)! He is ashamed that everything he has been trying to find was false and made up by Abigail. We see that in the jail scene he is begging Goody Proctor to have her husband confess in order to save his life: “Will you plead for his confession or will you not” (4.486-487)? This dynamic character change truly captures how Hale has changed since the

Proctor is later found guilty and he is ordered to be taken to jail. With anger, Hale speaks out, “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court” (1151). Hale can no longer take part in a court system that hangs innocent people. He publicly declares that the court’s rulings are wrong which reveal his frustration and his rejection to the court. Reverend Hale is no longer the same man who had his faith in the court when he had first arrived in Salem.

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

Reverend Hale was a complex character whose changes could be observed through his actions and motivations. Hale shifted from being a devote Puritan to abandoning his faith entirely. He went from fully believing in the trials to damning them and becoming consumed by guilt because of them. Hale’s complexity adds to the play by showing how intense the trials were and how even the most devote were

Reverend Hale has extreme devotion to faith. Found on pages 60-71 he was questioning the Proctors why they weren't attending church. Also, when he helps Tituba away from the “devil” once she confesses to witchcraft. This is found on page 848.

Furthermore, Reverend Hale was pushed to change also. Hale came into Salem a stranger, but knew how to fix the problem the town endured. He never questioned that God had a plan and always thought that something was either good or bad, with no gray area in between. This thinking is challenged when Elizabeth, a pure person, is accused and then later when John confesses. He knows that these people are honest and leaves the court for a period of time. In the end, Hale is a desperate man, and even though knowing there is no witchcraft present, he urges John to admit that he is not the one that should be punished. He has to question all the rules he has lived by his whole life and pursue something he knows is incorrect. In essence, Reverend Hale is pushed to his limits and is turned into a man that will be permanently in suspicion of any standards he ever thought were true.

Reverend Hale was a priest so he was all about honesty and did not want anyone to lie. Hale once said, “cleave to no faith when faith brings blood” (Miller 132). In this quote Reverend Hale warns Elizabeth and tells her that she should not lie because that is bad and it could lead to death. This connects to Reverend Hale as a tragic hero because he changed his beliefs as he left the court and left Salem. Then Reverend Hale returned to Salem because he wanted to help save the rest of the people of Salem since he was not there to directly help John Proctor. Hale went from being someone all about honesty to basically a liar. The only way to help save the people of Salem would be to tell them to lie. Reverend Hale was only able to do this because he left the court. If he was still part of the court he would have to follow what they do and he would not have a voice or a say. When it came to John Proctor’s trial, he decided to tell the truth but that unfortunately did not work out for him. This is because they sent Elizabeth into the court and asked he the same question they asked John Proctor, however, Elizabeth lied for her husband. Because he did not say the same thing as John Proctor he would most likely be killed for this. When this was happening, Reverend Hale was still part of the court so he did not have say about what would happen to John Proctor. This is one of the reasons why Reverend Hale

Reverend Hale believes in his second thoughts of the devil not being such a thing, and sees that Abigail has been setting this all up and framing John Proctor to have his love. Pointing at Abigail, Hale says, “I believe him!...This girl has always struck me false!...”(Act III, 50) After Abigail over-exaggerates and makes the girls believe the devil is in their presence, and the people of the court believe them, Reverend Hale walks out in frustration. People of the court and town don’t know what else to believe because they always thought the girls were saying the truth about what they saw. Hale begins to see that a lot of people in the town of Salem, are corrupted in result of the witchcraft trials.

In act four Hale is completely against the witch trials, we saw this when Mr. Hale visits the jail to speak to Proctor. Hale tries his best to convince Proctor to confess to working with the devil. When speaking to Proctor he tells him to lie about the crimes to get out of jail. Which is ironic because he he is a preacher telling someone to lie, even if it is to help someone out. We have seen Mr Hale completely change from the brash Reverend from Beverly searching for nonexistent witchcraft in act one.

At first, he was motivated by the writings of the church and the books he read about witchcraft. He wanted to get rid of this evil, in order to protect those who were not evil. Likely, his expert knowledge helped him feel as a more powerful leader. As the story continued, Reverend Hale was motivated to show that the legal system was not unbiased. However, he learned otherwise. Due to him previously being involved in signing to have multiple others hanged for witchcraft, he would be admitting that his beliefs in witchcraft were not founded. He then chose to encourage those who were falsely accused of witchcraft to lie to the court to be saved. Reverend Hale was determined to save further innocent people from being hanged. He now viewed this as being fair. After Proctor said he will not lie, he will tell the truth Hale yells,“you cannot!”(IV.i.144). Since he was originally motivated by his beliefs in religion and law, and he now has doubts about his beliefs being accurate, he later demonstrates his concerns about

Hale’s arrival during Act I in Salem describes him as character full of confidence and eager to utilize his knowledge of witchcraft. Hale enters “loaded down with half a dozen heavy books”(Miller 36) and because he is carrying all these heavy books he projects an air of great knowledge and confidence. The other characters in novel greets Hale with respect and treats him as a character in high position as a respected minister. His cofidence on the subject of evil provides a sense of stability for the community of Salem. However, Hale’s own desire to discover witchcraft allows others to manipulate him easily and does not realise that he is being deceived.

In Act 1, Hale’s devotion to carrying out God’s law reveals his sense of obligation in eradicating the diabolic disturbances in Salem, despite the negative impact it may have on its citizens. Prior to entering the town, the Reverend’s motives lie in defeating the Devil, believing that this valiance will bring preservation to the Puritans. Although “his goal is light,” he believes the people of Salem have been “called upon to face what may be a bloody fight with the Fiend himself” (36). Despite wanting to face off with the devil, Hale stands strong in his belief that this will restore peace and prove to be beneficial. Consequences aside, his heavy

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

Another pivotal development in the plot of the play is the reactions of Mr. hale to the happenings in Salem. He is a man of integrity, although at times misguided and overzealous, he is willing to change his mind when confronted with the truth. Despite this admirable trait, he lacks the moral conviction to act against proceedings that will condemn innocent people to death. He comes to realize that John Proctor is