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Characters and characterisation of the crucible
The crucible essay characters
Characters and characterisation of the crucible
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Cut it down, watch it burn, and wait to see what rises in the ashes. This is comparable to a crucible, which is a severe test that melts away a substance and only leaves behind a refined product. However, in the dangerous instances where a crucible fails to work, the substance produced will definitely be damaged or broken. Introduced as a highly confident man with a strong passion in religion and an equally important set of morals and codes, Reverend John Hale is nowhere near the same by the end. His valued faith in religion and the supernatural, as well as the laws and orders that follow it, are strained as the events of the play unfold, and ultimately fall apart. The morals and values that Hale so strongly upholds are similarly put to the …show more content…
Hale’s belief in witchcraft and the law that handles it is one of the main guides in developing his self-confident character into something else entirely. From the moment Hale enters the play, he believes strongly in the existence of witchcraft and the law that handles it. However, Hale begins to doubt the law when Rebecca Nurse, a well-respected woman, is accused, and tries to convince himself and others by saying that they should “rest upon the justice of the court” because it will “send her home, I know it” (170). Although Hale appears to be confidently standing by the law, his addition of “I know it” along with the stage directions that indicate Hale’s uneasiness, betrays that. By saying that he knows it, Hale reveals that he is actually unsure about the law because in a case where he would be confident, he would have no need to add any reassurance other than the honesty of his word. As the plot of the play continues, Hale comes to realize that the court is no longer based on witchcraft but rather the personal agendas of the …show more content…
The morals that Hale treasures and relates to religion focuses on the connection of truth and the will of God. In the beginning, Hale defined the truth to be connected to God’s will. This is shown when he tries to make Tituba confess and tells her to “speak utterly… and God will protect you” (157). Here, Hale implies that the truth will ensure God’s protection from the Devil, who is represented by lies. It is also seen that Hale earnestly believes in the relationship between God and the truth because he is able to say it confidently and without any stuttering or passive language. However, Hale’s sense of character begins to change when the witch trials begin and the innocent are now the accused and the guilty are the ones allowed to run free. Hale is especially tested when Proctor brings up the fact that the accused, whether they are innocent or not, will lie in order to save their own lives (169). This creates a problem for Hale, who has previously believed that the words of the accused, such as Tituba, were the truth. It also rips holes in his once unquestionable faith to God’s will because the “truths” that he had believed in were actually lies. It brings up questions regarding Hale’s morals, and makes him questions what is the truth, and what is wrong. But as the witch trials become more extreme and innocents are being hanged in the
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, is about mass hysteria of witches being in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. An educated man named Revered Hale arrived in the town with his exclusive knowledge of witches to help the town eliminate the presence of the Devil. He became a member of the court and aided in putting innocent people in jail or hung. As Hale started to see the consequences of his actions, he struggled with fixing his mistakes. The change in his perspective of the witch trials caused his overall personality and attitude to change as well. Hale’s dialogue, stage directions, and other people’s perceptions of him reveal a man motivated by good intentions; furthermore, his mission to help Salem destroyed evil in the beginning and his attempts
Hale takes this job to a personal level when the the crisis takes a turn for the worse. He pleads with the people convicted of witchcraft to confess. He feels he is responsible for their lives because his purpose was to rid the town of witchcraft, not innocent lives. He beholds himself a failure when he cannot convince the accused to confess. His well justified pride is broken. He came into this village like a bride groom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion; the very crowns of holy law I brought, and what I touched with my bright confidence, it died; and where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up. He urges Elizabeth not ot let her pride interfere with her duty as a wife, as it did with his own duty.
His respect for authority disintegrates as he learns that everything in life that he once placed emphasis on, like the power of the written law and the authority of the court, is corrupt in the town of Salem. Hale comes to the end that the law is not absolute, one does not need to strictly adhere to the law, and that authority does not always preside over everything. He recognizes the evil in the town of Salem, yet in response, he does not choose defiance, but surrender. When he stops believing in witchcraft, he stops believing in everything that he once believed to be true. Not only does he no longer believe in the prevalence of law, he no longer believes in the ascendancy of religion over all aspects of life. As Reverend Hale loses his conviction for authority, he correspondingly loses his identity, yet, in our eyes of the reader, he gains respect and sympathy in its
We have all heard the tales and seen the movies of evil witches cooking little kids up for supper. For the people of salem in 1692-1693 this was a reality. In the matter of less than a year more than two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and more than twenty were executed. In these historic events author Arthur Miller wrote a play about the people and events in this play there is a man, Reverend Hale is well versed in the study of witchcraft and has come to try and save the girls that have been gripped by the Devil. Miller has Hale change very much throughout the event of this play. In the beginning he believes that the Devil is at work in Salem, how ever near the climactic ending of this play he realises that this witch talk has gotten completely out of hand
Hale has a lot of wisdom to share with Salem. " Man, remember, until an hour before the devil fell, God thought him beautiful in heaven," (p. 71); ".private vengeance is working through testimony," (p. 114). John Proctor is a strong and courageous character who will not give in easily to his accusers. In the end of The Crucible he denies the charges of witchcraft.
[A cell in Salem jail, that fall, The accused women sat on the cold stone floor. Hale quietly came seeking justice. The cold of the night stabbed the accused women like daggers, knowing all they had was their dignity and pride. Reminiscing of her husband, Elizabeth caressed her now 3 month pregnant paunch]
he has spent his whole life in the study of it. “We cannot look to
The Crucible, a container that resists hear or the hollow at the bottom of an ore furnace. However its connotations include melting pot, in the symbolic sense, and the bearing of a cross. Elizabeth, John Proctor’s wife; a cold, childless woman who is an upright character who cannot forgive her husband’s adultery until just before he died: she is accused of being a witch. Reverend Hale, a self-proclaimed expert on witchcraft; at the play’s end tries to save the accused. John Proctor, a good man with human failures and a hidden secret, a affair with Abigail, he is often the voice of reason in the play; accused of witchcraft.“I do not judge you.
I feel that the most important part of the dialogue is the last quotation by Hale showing this idea of theology not being allowed to have cracks in it. This is not only is general theology, but also is a metaphor for their Quaker society. John Proctor is seen as a crack in their society because he can only say nine of the Ten Commandments. Judging by his tone, however, he knows the tenth commandment, but since he broke it he is unwilling to say it. However, Hale doesn’t know this and just believes that he doesn’t follow the Theocratic rule. Proctors’ actions in this dialogue are pivotal to the understanding of the reasoning behind the Salem Witch Trials because it shows how much of an emphasis was on religion. They were unwilling to accept those who did not fit with the societal norm and instead of accepting those people; the people instantly assumed that they were witches just because of the societal norm. This led to a large amount of people being accused because they were outcasts. This is very hypocritical because the Bible speaks of tolerance and Salem is executing people who are
Statements from Hale show that he has realized the error of his ways. He decides to “shut [his] conscience no more” (223) and quits the court. Hale can no longer suppress his beliefs about the court and in effect, like Pontius Palter, absolves himself from the court. Next, Hale’s Words are used to show the immense amount of guilt that rests on his shoulder. Hale walks the prisons of Salem and, in knowing that “there is blood on [his] head” (234), “counsels Christians they should belie themselves” (234) even though he is also belying his reputation as reverend by doing this.
Because he is forced to accept that his beliefs have been messed with and realizes that he has sent people to their deaths, he loses faith in the law and questions his faith in God. Arthur Miller put many events into the story and tells about Hale’s mindset. In the middle of Act I, Hale comes and what he is called by the townspeople “The truth seeker”. Hale is called upon to determine what sort of witchcraft is going on. Hale arrives admired by the people who wants him to calm this nonsense of witchcraft down. He understands he being led toward the conclusion of witchcraft by the town’s wrong doings. He also begins to see a weakness in the position of the townspeople of Salem and tries to not let common things be the support for his
In Act II Hale, in his true moral values which do not change throughout the course of the play, goes to each house questioning the inhabitants on their loyalty to Christianity. He winds up at the Proctor home, where he questions both John and Elizabeth, who are angry at the reasoning of the questioning. They find out that he has questioned Rebecca Nurse as well and this anger...
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Reverend Hale sees that he has made a huge mistake by running the Salem witch trials. Soon after, he attempts to prevent a situation in which he would be responsible for the death of an innocent man. Hale goes to Proctor’s wife and begs her to tell her husband that he must not be hanged, by saying “life, woman, is god’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, can justify taking it” (Miller). Here, Rev. Hale is stating that John Proctor should not get himself killed and justify his own hanging with a glorious principle. By stating this, Rev. Hale is
Arthur Millers The Crucible possesses many examples of interesting character development. A character who one initially finds to be worthy of mercy or pity can easily become the last person deserving of sympathy. This relationship is not only formed between the reader and the characters, but between the characters and the scenario of the story itself. The victim may become the accuser, or the scholar may become the humanitarian. This manner of characterization is best shown in the relationship between Reverend John Hale and Deputy Governor Danforth. Each is objectified to the events in Salem as they come into the situation with no attachments to any of the other characters and are unfamiliar with any of their mannerisms or personalities. Hale is a well-read minister who relies upon his books. Danforth is a reputable judge who relies on consistent input and prodding. Both of these men enter the trials with very similar goals. The places they stand at the finish, however, could not be more different. This is due to the personal relationships and opinions Hale develops concerning Salem. Reverend Hale is a dynamic character who learns his role as a minister while Judge Danforth is a constant force who voices others opinions through his authority.
A crucible is a severe test as of patients or belief, a trial. The play The Crucible is a journey through the trials of many townspeople caused by the superstitious belief of witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller progresses and evolves the outlooks and views of the townspeople of Salem and shows how events, people, and catastrophes cause the characters to change their views on whether the people prosecuted were guilty or innocent of witchcraft. Reverend John Hale changes his view, more and more drastically as the play advances, as a result of the events that he underwent and the experiences he had. Soon he had total belief in the innocence of all those convicted and hung in Salem.