The nature of many characters in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible are changed none more than of Reverend Hale. Hale was a young minister from the nearby town of Beverly seen as a spiritual leader and an expert in the field of witchcraft. Who was called to the town of Salem after the local minister caught girls dancing leaving suspicions of witchcraft. Due to Hales higher education, he was slow to assumption and sought indisputable evidence before advocating for one idea or another. By observing the actions of Hale and those around him, one is able to observe many thematic lessons. Hales search for truth lead him into scenarios that would change his character, none more powerfully than his signing away the life of accused witches.
In The Crucible Reverend John Hale is depicted as a young minister from the town of Beverly, who is an expert in the field of witchcraft. The young minister sought to destroy such demonic arts through God’s name. Hale is appointed to diagnose those afflicted with witchcraft believing he might save souls by doing such. At the beginning of the play this expert was honored in the village of Salem due to his reputation. However, due to the reverends personality, he is often manipulated and taken advantage of especially when diagnosing witchcraft.
Reverend Hale possessed a very spiritual personality, his
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During this scene this young reverend cries to Judge Danforth, “I have this morning signed away the soul of Rebecca Nurse, Your Honor. I 'll not conceal it; my hand shakes yet as with a wound!" (184). In this moment Hale shows realization for being manipulated into believing witchcraft presence in Salem condemning those who were accused. Filled with guilt this spiritual leader decides to advocate for those who had been accused of witchcraft. Hale would do all he could to assist those who had been accused on spurious
(35) This shows that Hale is so involved in his work that he could possibly end up accusing someone who was not guilty of witchcraft. Hale seems overly conscious about his own life and his duty to serve the people to find the devil in Salem; he doesn’t seem to like the idea that he himself could be wicked. This shows that Hale too, did not show himself to be truthful and courteous when it came to the
Hale devotes himself to his faith and his work. He is a self-inspiration to himself to motivate his ability to this “job”. Sadly enough, Hale is also vulnerable. There is not exact way to make sure that all of this info may be correct. Also he is just like us, everyone makes mistakes, and he is not perfect he is just really good at what he does.
Reverend John Hale's amazing change of his point of view can be related to that of someone with a bad drug addiction who finally frees themselves from the darkness of their addiction. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, Rev. Hale undergoes changes throughout the play due to the ridiculous trials of witches in Salem, Massachusetts. These changes consist of his belief in who is a witch, the people he believes and trusts in Salem, and the outcome of the trials themselves. At the beginning of the play Rev. Hale is supposedly the "expert" on witches.
When Hale entered the story he believed that he was going to be the savior of the town ridding them of witches. When Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor were arrested Reverend Hale was deeply shaken with his beliefs. Hale near the end of the story he tells Elizabeth that you should not have religion when it brings you harm but you should keep faith in God. Reverend Hale near ending of The Crucible is the complete opposite of the Reverend Hale that first entered the story, because he came in believing he was the authority on how to find witches, then he was shaken by arrest of Rebecca and John, and finally by him telling others to throw away religion when it brings harm to
Throughout The Crucible, during the Salem Witch Trials, Reverend Hale slowly changes from a ‘confident man with a plan’, to a haggard preacher who seems to be losing himself amongst the chaos of these colonial trials based off of lies. After a life-altering experience, Hale is never again the same person he started out as. In the beginning of
In the year of 1692, 19 innocent people were forced to slowly walk towards a rope that in a matter of seconds would end their lives. These horrific events are something portrayed in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible. In Salem, Massachusetts, a mass hysteria violently spread the fear of witchcraft amongst the Puritan village. Reverend Hale, a so called “expert” in demonic arts, was brought in by Salem's most spiritual figure Reverend Parris to demolish any sign of witchcraft from his home. Yet, Hale is overall culpable for the tragedies that struck Salem because of his false accusations and narrow point of view.
Weighing heavy on his conscious heart. This show that Hale recognizes and knows what is right and what is wrong. Hale from the Crucible wistfully is the tragic hero of the play An notable reason for Reverend Hale to be the tragic hero is that he has excellent qualities as a character from the play.¨You cannot be Rebecca Nurse? strange how I knew you, but I suppose you look as such a good soul should.
Hale went to the Proctor’s house to interrogate them without the court knowing. He wanted to know about their belief in witches and to question their religious ways. This showed him beginning to change due to his confidence wearing away. We now see Hale doubting the strength of his own conclusions. Once John Proctor got arrested,
To begin, When reverend hale went to salem he was very confident. Reverend Hale, knew a lot about witches and spirits. Hale took witchcraft very seriously, he believed there was actually something going on in salem. Next, Hale is determined to get to the bottom of what is going on. When hale gets to salem, he is very tired and has very little motivation.
Throughout the play The Crucible, there are several transformations among characters. One strong transformation is that of Reverend Hale. Hale epitomizes a very dynamic character. Throughout all of the drama in Salem, Hale changes drastically from a man with intentions to free the world from the clutches of satan to a person who realizes the Salem witch trials were all based on lies and tomfoolery.
Reverend Hale is the character that changes the most in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible because his feelings on witchcraft turns from full belief to unbelievable doubt, his thoughts on Proctor changes from thinking that he is evil to thinking that he is a good and honest man, and he switches from doing God’s work to doing the Devil’s. Reverend Hale makes a huge change on his claim of witchcraft. In the beginning of the play when Reverend is called to the town of Salem to see if the reason why Betty and Ruth are unconscious is due to witchcraft he brings with him many books. When Reverend Parris sees this he makes a comment that Hale responds to him explaining his expectations. This shows that Reverend Hale is focused on one thing, finding
Gandhi once said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, when characters are faced with differences between one another, they tend to show what they want the world to see instead of their true beliefs. Reverend Hale fights a battle between what he has been studying his whole life against what he feels is truly right. In the end he completely undergoes an important inner change, he sees the false accusations in the witch trials and changes from believing completely in witchcraft, to protecting the innocent and doing anything in his power to save their
In act 1 and 2 in the play ,The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the character Reverend Hale was introduced and learned what his role was. Reverend Hale was a man nearing his forties and was a high-status intellectual who was an expert in witchcraft (Miller 155). In this act Hale said that he believes there always will be someone with the devil(Miller 155). Hale was siding with the court in this act and signing death warrants along with believing in these accusations fully as shown in his visit to the Proctors when he said there is too much evidence to deny the Devil is in Salem (Miller 171). Also, Hale almost played as an interrogator when he was giving rapid fire questions to John about his Christian character and if he goes to church in his visit to the Proctor house (Miller 171).
The witches are on the hunt for the innocent souls of Salem with Hale stating, “The Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points” (Miller 1251). Hale is determined to use God’s mighty hand against the “evil witches”. This shows that Hale is faithful to Abigail’s accusations against the common people of Salem. At first, Reverend Hale is eager to prosecute, but as more innocent people are condemned, his compliance turns into distaste. His dissatisfaction eventually turns into rage when Hale shouts, “I denounce these proceedings!”
In the book Crucible written by Arthur Miller took place in 1692. Some may believe that Reverend Hale is not to blame for all the deaths of innocent people in Salem. The only reason Reverend Hale is involved in this case, is because he is pushing his limits to get the truth. Also, to not let any guilty doers off the chain, for the reason that they will keep repeating their dirty crimes. There has been many witch trials taken place in salem, of which many people have been accused and persecuted.