The Crucible Character Analysis

The play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, takes place in the town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. This time in Salem, witchcraft was suspected of almost everyone in the town. Preserving one’s reputation becomes recurring concept throughout the play. The witchcraft accusations are usually made by people that have a biased view against others, which is why everyone tries to make sure their reputation looks well with the rest of the town. This concept is proven through the characters of John Proctor, Reverend Parris and Reverend Hale. These three characters go to great lengths to protect what the town of Salem thinks of them.

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

Hale’s loss of control is also demonstrated in Act II through his lack of knowledge on the current situation. When Cheever stated that Elizabeth has been charged, Hale had no awareness of this accusation and has to ask Cheever “When were she charged?” unlike the beginning of the play when everyone asked Hale questions. Rebecca’s charge also surprises Hale which once again proves that he is no longer in control of the situation like he was at the beginning. Hale further questions the actions of the court and the genuineness of the accusations here as he cannot believe that such supposedly innocent and holy people are being accused. Hale’s actions are very indefinite and he speaks “in great uncertainty” which reflects his loss of control and completely contrasts the manner in which he spoke towards the beginning of the play. His “uncertainty” is further proof of him beginning to question the justice of the events and his beliefs.

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible the witch trials in Salem were a devastating time. The entire community was in disorder and chaos because of personal vengeance. This included accusations of innocent town’s people being called witches, so they hanged and were jailed. Throughout the play certain characters help the rise of witchcraft as well as the disapproval of all the innocent people who were being convicted for no reason. Reverend Hale is a dynamic character whom comes to rid of the evil spirits in Salem, yet he later tries to end the trials. Hale realizes the accusations are false, attempts to postpone the hangings, and persuade the victims to lie conveys that he is a dynamic character and changes throughout the play.

The Salem witch trials were a time period in which there was mass chaos and very little reason. In, “The Crucible,” by Arthur Miller, there were an elect group of people that overcame this hysteria of the trials. Among the people of reason arose, Reverend Hale, who displayed both sides of the hysteria. Reverend Hale is a dynamic character as he transforms from a character following the strict law and causing the deaths of many, to a character that understands the ridiculousness of the trials.

Pride can become something that will lead a man to shame and destruction. In The Crucible this happened to one of the main characters, John Proctor, which also is the one of the Tragic Hero in the book. The Crucible is about when some town people in Salem was accused of being witches after four girls were found dancing in the woods. After 200 people were accused of being witches in 1963, 20 people were either hung or crushed by many stones. In the Crucible John Proctor, the tragic hero had a weakness as pride eventually forcing him to face a serious decision and suffering more than he should.

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, it takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during colonial America. Throughout the story a group of girls makes accusations a mass of people of practicing witchcraft, one of the worst crimes to commit during that period, and people are being sentenced to hang for denying witchery. In the Crucible there are many lessons that Arthur Miller wants to teach you. To me a lot of the lessons that were taught in this story are important but I feel like one of them is the most important. Arthur Miller demonstrates that one of the lessons implied in the story is people’s character and how it affects those people and others. Examples of character are Giles Corey, John Proctor, Abigail Williams.

The witch trials in this play were based on actual events that happened in Salem in 1692. Arthur Miller’s 1953 The Crucible is a dramatization of the Salem Witch Trials. His reasoning for writing it was because everyone was hysteric about the Soviet Union and communism trying to make its way over to the United States. It was like a modern day witch hunt. In the play, Abigail Williams and a group of girls get caught in the woods. They were dancing and doing other things that puritan’s looked down upon. The girls were caught by Reverend Parris, and soon after his daughter became ‘ill’. The girls then started saying that witches came to them and told them to do bad things. They sent innocent people to hang. After studying Arthur Miller’s

It is in the second act that the change in Reverend Hale’s character happens as he begins to doubt the truth of the witchcraft accusations. As Hale enters the Proctors’ house in Act 2, on page 62, “there is a quality of deference, even of guilt, about his manner now.” His worn out demeanor is much different than the eager one in his first introduction and the reason for that is he has been visiting all those whose names have been mentioned in court. It can be concluded that investigating all those accused and having sparked all the names from his first accusation of Tituba, has tired him out and made him feel responsible for there being so many. After being questioned by John Proctor about considering if people are possibly lying to spare their lives, the doubt that Hale holds is first seen. On page 69, Hale responds to Proctor, “I—I have indeed.” By admitting to his suspicion, Hale confirms the weakness of his trust in the trials and opens the potential for his change. Although accepting that some of the accused might be innocent, it is only the possibility of such and his belief that there is evil in Salem does still exists. Hale

Reverend Hale is a man who comes to Salem with a mission. He had recently discovered witchcraft in his own town where he was the minister, and now his services were being requested elsewhere (Miller, 9). His talents were becoming known, and he was very proud. He had intentions of being Salem’s hero by purging their small town of witchcraft and evil while increasing his reputation as a witch catcher. He truly strives to be a virtuous man, and seems to carry that

There are times where fear dictates an individual’s choices and lifestyle, especially when the fear sweeps across a large group or society. However if the group contains the excessive amounts of fear, their decisions will become rash and challenge the concept of morality. Within the play The Crucible, Reverend Hale challenges morality when he becomes one of the many persecutors of the Witch Trials in Salem. When enigma shadows the community of Salem and witchcraft is the only conclusion the town prosecutors come to, Reverend Hale travels from his home to Salem in hopes to rid the town of the witches. Though rather than having an open view of the world, he claims that they all live in “the invisible world, caught, defined and calculated” (Miller 39). Hale’s outlook on the world persists of only two sides, where each individual falls on one side or the

“His goal, is light, goodness and preservation” (Miller 30). In The Crucible, the author, Arthur Miller, elaborates on the quality of Reverend Hale. Miller introduces Reverend Hale as a light to the darkness of Salem. Miller also uses John Hale to symbolize the hope and goodness that can be found in Salem. Reverend Hale surprises many readers from the courses of Hale’s actions throughout The Crucible. John Hale becomes significantly dynamic throughout the play because of his unstable confidence, vulnerability, and frustration. In the beginning of The Crucible, John Hale was shown as a man who had strong beliefs in the witchcraft theories, but by the end of the play Hale’s strong beliefs had been tested and modified.

On another level, Hale is representative of an individual in society who at the start of the proceedings has a strong belief in moral absolutism. Hale perfectly fits this mould, at the start of the play he has utter confidence in the theocracy and an unwavering belief in the idea that there are witches in Salem. As a result, readers have a slight aversion to Hale’s haughty attitude due to his one dimensional personality.’ Miller uses Hale in Act 1 to emphasise the naivety of the totalitarian regime and the foolishness of individuals who desired to do good in society.

Upon being first introduced, Reverend Hale is described as a confident, ambitious man driven by motivation to impress others with his thorough knowledge of witchcraft. He considers himself to be an expert; a veritable beacon of intellectual light who will be able to cure Salem of its supernatural affliction. By the end of The Crucible, Hale has undergone a complete character transformation, making him one of the more dynamic characters in the play. His perception of the trials are shrouded in guilt and self-doubt as he struggles with feeling responsible for those who are condemned to hang and wanting to preserve his Puritan values.

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