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Placing The Blame On Hale 's The Crucible

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Placing the Blame on Hale The town of Salem, Massachusetts was a quiet, uneventful town for quite some time. When accusations of witchcraft began circling certain members of the community, Reverend Parris called in outside help. Reverent John Hale came from Beverly, the next town over. He strongly believes that everyone has a good side, though that belief sometimes alters his perception of people. Though his attempts to help were noble, he could have prevented over fifty deaths by staying out of Salem. Hale becomes the primary cause of the witch hunts because he’s overly trusting, kind, and often rushes to solve complex problems in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. As a general rule, Hale believes most of what he’s told, without questioning the truth of it. Not long after coming to Salem, Hale begins questioning members of the community about witchcraft. To Abigail, he asks, “Did you call the Devil last night?” (481 Miller), to which she replies, seemingly fearfully, “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba…” (481 Miller). To the reader, it’s rather obvious that Abigail is attempting to blame Tituba for her suspicious actions. Parris interrupts, asking, “She called the Devil?” (481 Miller), and Hale begins to shift his suspicion, saying, “I should like to speak with Tituba.” (481 Miller). Nearly immediately after Hale has another person to focus his questioning on, he accepts Abigail’s story and moves on. Hale could have avoided this by noting the name, but continuing to

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