Importance Of Reverend Hale In The Crucible

Throughout the course of time, it is apparent that people change because of inevitable occurrences they go through. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Reverend John Hale is made to be a complicated character. In the beginning, he is extremely confident, intelligent, and is a man that seems to want to get the job he is assigned to do done. Towards the middle of the play, that confidence begins to decline because of certain mishaps. In the end, Reverend Hale is a totally different person with different views of those that he had in the beginning. Reverend John Hale is one of the characters in The Crucible that makes apparent changes.

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

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

Change is inevitable. Many humans fight it while others greet it with open arms and smiling faces. Most people change because of things that happen around, or to them. Negative or positive, the actions can dictate whether the individual changes for the worse or for the better. Reverend Hale in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is the perfect example of this. He changes drastically, yet gradually, throughout the entire play. Hale progresses from conceited due to his abilities, to hesitant because of the great negative impact the witch trials are beginning to hold, and finally, he becomes regretful because of his ignorance and the actions it caused.

In The Crucible, there are many complex characters who shift throughout the play. Reverend Hale was one of the most complex of these characters. Hale’s changes were a direct result of the trials. Because of this Hale’s changes can be traced through his actions and motivations. Throughout the play, Reverend Hale was changed by his faith, his knowledge of the truth, and by his guilt.

Sometimes the truth is hard to see, but if you look hard enough you can always find it. Reverend Hale’s intention was to help the town of Salem find the truth. He thought he found it quickly, but then realized that he was wrong. Coming to this realization caused him to look at the problem in a different way. Once he found this, he did everything that he could to help anyone that was accused. Reverend Hale changed from being accusatory to helping the accused.

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

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

Reverend John Hale is the minister who is called in to investigate the witch trials in The Crucible. At first he believes them, but later he returns to the town to try and stop the trials. Deputy Governor Danforth is the judge at the witch trials. He is dedicated to removing all witches. He rules by the law and will not allow exceptions or anyone to try to undermine his court.

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 wanted to preserve his integrity and maintain his honesty as a priest. However, that no longer was the case when the court continued to only believe Abigail when it came to the witchcraft. Reverend Hale could not take it anymore because he knew that Abigail was lying, but the court would not understand and just kept believing in her. He was basically the only one how slowly started to realize what she was doing and Hale started to defend John Proctor. When Reverend Hale was at the court he just could not take it anymore so he wanted to leave Salem. That is why he said,“I quit this court!” (Miller 120). This is when Reverend Hale is done with the court and leaves Salem. This also makes Reverend Hale a tragic hero because he realized that he needed to leave the court and Salem. He did not feel that the court was doing the right thing for the people. The court was only believing Abigail and would not listen to anyone else. Reverend Hale was on John Proctor’s side and he knew that what Proctor was saying about Abigail was true. Abigail only made up these lies because she wanted Elizabeth Proctor dead so she can be with John Proctor. An article said, “in The Crucible the religious authorities are villainous, seeking to force people to act against their consciences to save themselves—to sacrifice their souls to save their bodies in the name of fighting the devil” (Puckett 1). This

Literary characters such as Macbeth or Professor Moriarty, while typically portrayed as “evil,” are morally complex characters that view themselves as protagonists, similar to Reverend Hale. In Arthur Miller’s seminal recreation of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible, a group of Puritan farmers, landowners, and priests collide in a tale of desperate fear and hysteria. Reverend Hale, is a minister with what appears limitless knowledge of the supernatural, thrust into an event that his expertise could never prepare him for. While Hale’s intentions to eliminate all Demonic presence from Salem appear noble, the outcome leads to the deaths of many innocents and the greater spread of hysteria. Hale creates chaos by placing himself into a leadership position and refusing to acknowledge his pride, but is not a typically “evil” character. When he realizes his mistakes, Hale attempts to right his wrongs and stand against the court using his words to defend the accused as a form of redemption.

Salem, Massachusetts is swarmed with rumors of witchcraft, and Witchcraft expert Reverend John Hale is called in. Hale comes after Reverend Parris found his daughter, Betty and niece, Abigail, and other girls from the village dancing in the woods. Parris’s daughter and another girl, fall ill after that night's events, causing the rumor of witchcraft to sweep through the village. John Proctor come to the house of Parris to see for himself the witchcraft, there we learn that Proctor and Abigail had an affair, found by Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. A week later, the Proctor house maid, Mary Warren, brings a doll for Goody Proctor that she made in court. The doll has a needle pushed through the stomach, which Abigail would use as a ploy to get Elizabeth

All of the Salem people thought of him as the spiritual doctor. He was to come into Salem and diagnose those of witchcraft. One of the first changes we see in Hale is when he Elizabeth Proctor is being arrested. He does not think that Elizabeth has done anything to do with witchcraft. We understand this because Hale tries to convince Herrick and Cheever that Elizabeth had not partake in any such thing as witchcraft.

Reverend Hale’s mission to procure the devil’s influence from Salem showed that he is a man of true kindness and charity. “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.” What Hale is communicating to Elizabeth