The Weight Of Truth - Religion

Reverend hale corrupts his power unknowingly, as he believes that Abigail and the girls are telling the truth, his image as a well educated Godly man makes him the perfect model for the towns people to mold their opinion of the witch trials from.

The towns’ people accused now are too well known and well respected to be witches. He begins lose faith in the court as the court proceeds to accuse more people. Most of the accusations made absurd. Reverend Hale himself cannot believe that such well respected towns’ people could be

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

Towards the beginning of the book Reverend is focused on figuring out who is a witch and convict them of witchery, which is shown through logos. He says that powers of the dark “are gathered in monstrous attack upon this village. There is too much evidence to deny it.” (64). Miller uses this quote to show how Hale is willing to convict any person that appears to be apart of the devil, which adds details about Hale’s character. Hale is enthusiastic and determined as well as exceptionally respected in the town of Salem. As the book progresses, Reverend Hale’s viewpoints shift towards wanting and needing more time to convict witchcraft. Hale believes “you must hear the girl, sir,” (88). Hale manipulates pathos to convince Danforth to give Mary Warren a chance to explain her experience with spirits. In addition, Hale explains he must have more time to convict hangings (129). This is quite a big shift from the beginning of the book, but Miller employs pathos to explain the passion and desire Hale has to figure out who should be convicted of

     John Hale represents the voice or authority and reasoning. He appears to be strong and assured himself that there was a whole world of witches around him at any given time. He believes in the churches power to be the ultimate law in the situation at hand. This is his source of pride. He sees himself as the person come to save the lives in the New World. As the case progresses though he starts to doubt himself and realizes that he had caused many deaths. His pride is swiftly destroyed and he asks

The characterization of the ensemble exemplifies the contrast between the villagers’ religious beliefs and their action. For example, Abigail Williams is characterized as a serial perjurer. Miller introduces her as having an “endless capacity for dissembling” (Miller 9). Having been raised in a devoutly religious town, Abigail’s constant lying and administration of havoc directly contrasts what is expected of her. Abigail’s uncle, Reverend Parris, is characterized as vain with little interest actual piety. John Proctor references to Parris as a man with “no light of God in him” (65). In addition to being corrupted by his own greed, Parris is made aware of the chaos caused by his niece, yet chooses to ignore it for the sake of his own reputation. Miller portrays his characters as wearers of masks of false piety, which he also connects with literary irony.

Meanwhile, the play is about the group of puritans who came to start their church in Salem. In the beginning, they started out with slight talk of witchcraft. People were starting to grow suspicious of Parris because his slave and niece and a couple other girls were dancing in the woods. In addition, his daughter was in a coma and she would not awaken. Eventually he decided to summon Hale, who is a professional with witchcraft, to determine what was going on. Although he was a professional, later on we come to find out that he was starting to think he was erroneous but he keeps that to himself. Then towards the end after there had been many deaths, he decides to tell them that they are innocent. The judge tells him that we have hung many already, so they cannot stop now because that would be biased. What this passage says is, they are a group who believes in the bible and worship the bible, and they are strict on witchcraft. If someone accuses somebody of witchcraft, the only way to live is to acknowledge that you are working with the devil. It also shows how strict the court is and how they do not let anybody be innocent. The court makes anybody who wants to live confess, by lying to the court or the victims will hang.

Reverend Hale is one of the main characters that is greatly influenced by his pride. Hale is known for hunting witches. He shows that he takes pride in taking on this task. "This is a beloved errand for him; on being called here to ascertain witchcraft he felt the pride of one specialist whose unique knowledge has at least been publically called for." This quote from the play shows that Hale was very prideful for taking on this task in Salem. Once in Salem Hale soon finds himself in a situation he has never been in. Hale feels as if the people that are dying of witchcraft are his fault. He attempts to tell the accused to plead to witchcraft in order to save their lives but yet, no one will listen. Hale realizes that his pride got in the way of what he was suppose to do and tries to make sure others do not make the same mistake he made.

Reverend Parris Act 1- “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. I have given you a home, child. I have put clothes upon your back—now give me an upright answer. Your name in the town—it is entirely white, is it not?” He says this as him and Abigail observe his sick daughter. He is not worried about his daughter’s well being, he is worried about the town’ s people thinking there is witchcraft taking place in his house. In act 4 he asks Judge Danforth to postpone the hangings. Not because he feels bad that his niece lied about everything and, he wants to save the innocent. He wants Judge Danforth to postpone the hangings because he thinks the people of the town will revolt against

The most important scene in the play was act two, scene three, where John Proctor is able to talk with his wife, Elizabeth, one last time. He is accused of practicing witchcraft and at first he decides

Youngs states that ministers spent a great deal of time accommodating the general public. In contrast, Reverend Parris is portrayed as quite self-absorbed. Throughout the play, Parris is concerned with keeping his reputation untarnished; he does all that he can to remain a respected member of the community. Likewise, Parris is very greedy. John Proctor notes that Parris is the first minister Salem to demand the deed to his house. Additionally, Parris argues that the six pounds he is allotted for firewood is in fact a part of his salary and should not be used to purchase firewood, “I regard that six pound as part of my salary. I am paid little enough without I spend six pound on firewood” (Miller 29). The only portion of The Crucible which correlates to Youngs’s description of ministers is Reverend Hale’s visit to Salem to examine Betty Parris, Reverend Parris’s daughter, after she becomes ill. Hale often visits the sick if their illnesses are thought to be a result of witchcraft. Overall, Miller does a poor job of accurately depicting the everyday lives of the ministry; only Hale fits a small portion of Youngs’s

Parris is the town minister and head of the church in Salem. After his daughter Betty Parris started acting strangely and his niece, Abigail has been accused of conjuring spells, people became suspicious that they were involved in witchcraft. Parris feared ruining his image in Salem. He cared about his reputation as a high figure in Salem more than the safety of his family. "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". This fear is the very thing that motivates his hatred towards John Proctor. John Proctor is a very respected person in the village meaning that he could pose a threat to Parris' position. Through the play, Parris questions Proctor about matters to try to dismiss him from the court. "Such a Christian that will not come to church but once in a month"! Parris lied in court about Abigail dancing in the woods and telling Danforth that John was "trying to overthrow the court". Parris is completely accepting of lying and putting people on death row to stop his reputation with tarnishing. Parris is another example on how fear is a greater motivator than

In contrast are the characters growth during the play. Reverend Hale is a main dynamic character in the play. Hale has a sort of subtle dominance and higher power than Reverend Parris. Hale makes his first appearance in the play by walking in carrying a stack of books. Parris makes note of the large books and Hale's comment foreshadows his superiority and respect. Hale tells Parris: ". . . they (the books) are weighted with authority" (1050). At first supporting characters dislike Hale for his coming to Salem to investigate

The play is about the group of puritans who came to start their church in Salem. In the beginning, there was little talk of witchcraft (Wiggins, 2012). People were starting to grow suspicious of Parris because his slave and niece and a couple other girls were dancing in the woods (Wiggins, 2012). Also his daughter was in a coma and would not wake up. Eventually he decided to call in Hale, who is a professional with witchcraft, to determine what was going on. Although he was said to be professional, later on we come to find out that he was starting to think he was wrong but he keeps that to himself (Wiggins, 2012). Then towards the end after there had been many deaths, he decides to tell them that they are innocent. The judge tells him that many have been hung already, so they cannot stop now because that would be unfair. What this passage says is, they are a group who believes in the bible and worship the bible, and they are strict on witchcraft (Wiggins, 2012). If somebody accuses someone of witchcraft, the only way to live is to confess that you are working with the devil. It also shows how harsh the court is and how they do not let anybody be considered innocent by making them lie to the court or they

One authority figure is Reverend Hale. He’s known for studying in Europe about the ideas of witchcraft and the Devil. Hale has done some of his best work in Beverly where he was able to find witchcraft and get rid of it completely. Due to his past work he’s summoned to Salem where the people are curious to find witchcraft. Once Hale arrives in Salem, he gets off the carriage that he was riding and proceeds to unload the books that he brought with him. As Parris offers to help with the unloading of the books, he states that the books are heavy and Hale says, “I hope so. They are weighted heavily with authority”(Miller 153). The idea of having books with him suggests that he has authority as the books are able to tell useful information. After witnessing the situation that occupied Parris’s house, Hale was definitely certain that there’s witchcraft in Salem. In addition to the suspicion of witchcraft, Abigail and the rest of the girls are