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Character study of the crucible by Arthur Miller
The crucible by arthur miller characters
Analysis of the Crucible by Arthur Miller
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At first, Arthur Miller characterizes Hale to be one that jumps right to conclusions without any sort of evidence. Hale is a so called “witch hunter,” so even the slightest unusual tait, and you’re a witch. Hale quotes to Tituba, “You have sent your spirit out upon this child, have you not?” (44). Since he had come to Salem to find witches, witches are what he’ll find. Hale is pressuring the people of Salem to confess to a sin the have not commit, shoving words in their mouths. As the play progresses, Hale starts to come to his senses and realizes the events are all false. Hale preaches to the constable and surrounding villagers, “Let you counsel among yourselves; think on your village and what may have drawn from heaven such thundering wrath
Hale is an intellectual man who takes pride in his ability to detect witchcraft. He was called to Salem to analyze their situation. "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."
" The fact that he only wants to please people is what gets him into trouble. He tries too hard to tell people only what they want to hear. This all results in Hale changing his mind about the court, the witches, and Salem.
Reverend John Hale, a Puritan pastor of Beverly, Massachusetts, was a strong believer of witchcraft and was one of the many people who sought out to end satan's reign. In The Crucible reverend John Hale represents the change in beliefs.
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.
In Act 1, Scene 1 of the Crucible, Arthur Miller’s theme is evident when Abigail worryingly puts all the blame on tituba because she knows that Tituba’s race puts her at a disadvantage, thus leading to tituba lying for her own safety. Passionately trying to seek answers Parris threateningly screams, “ You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!”(Miller 24) Tituba fearfully replies, “ No--no, don’t hang Tituba. I tell him I don’t desire to work for him, sir.” (24). In the quote, Parris didn’t like that tituba didn’t tell him she dealt with the devil so he threatened to kill her. Historically whipping was a method to abuse or punish slaves for misbehaving. After the beatings if still alive the slaves will suffer mental and physical distress. This image of a brutal death
As everyone knows, marginalization is strongly shown in the Crucible, and there are several characters who had marginalized by someone else. Because of their personalities, race, and fate. Those are the main reason shows why they were being marginalized. I choose three characters from the Crucible, Reverend John Hale, Tituba, and Giles Corey. First of all, Reverend John Hale was one of the marginal characters because others thought that he was naive and rash. Also, he started to question and wonder everything in the court which made others hate him. For example, when Hale came to Salem and prayed with Parris, Danforth and Herrick were making a conversation:
Salem citizens in general were afraid of all ungodly things with their Puritan views. They had no trouble believing that, because Parris had called Reverend Hale, (known for his studies in demonic arts), there must truly be witchcraft within the town. The play progresses and certain characters begin to develop: here is a community full of underlying personal grudges. Religion pervades every aspect of life, 'A man may think that God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now.'; but it is a religion that lacks the ritual of confession. Here and throughout the play we see how this affects John Proctor, a man so proud of his name that guilt eats at his very heart, as he will not let out his secret pain in a vain attempt to keep his integrity.
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
Hale is described as a specialist in witchcraft, and has had a similar case in the past (Miller 33). At first, he truly believed that he was doing the right thing. By probing Abigail and Tituba to confess, he hoped to save their souls and said that they are back on “Heaven’s side” (Miller 46). This parallels the leaders in the 1950’s witch-hunt who believed that they were helping the nation by interrogating the accused. In Henry Popkin’s literary criticism, “The Historical Background of The Crucible”, the House Committee to Investigate Un-American Activities asked its detainees: “‘Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?’” (138). This is very similar to when Hale was interrogating the girls and asked: “‘Did you call the Devil last night’” (Miller 42). Through this, Miller shows that the Communist Party was the 1950’s equivalent of “the Devil”; furthermore, it is interesting to note that the basis of the question remains the same, only the evil was changed. Even after a couple hundred years, history is still repeating itself. Then later, Hale is shown to have a change of heart and realizes that he “‘signed seventy-two death warrants’” and no long cares to “‘take a life without … proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it’” (Miller 99). Subsequently, he quits the court and supports Proctors
Being right is important to everybody. Everyone want’s to be correct, wants their way to be correct. And when their way is challenged, they become defensive and angry. A few people, however, may have a change in thought. Something someone said to them may make them second guess their original thoughts. They start to change their ways, or what they had thought at first until everything becomes obvious and they change, for better or worse. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the character Reverend Hale experiences a gradual change throughout the play, due to John Proctor giving him another view to look upon.
As Reverend John Hale is not a resident of Salem, he approaches the accusations and rumors without any prior opinion. Hale is introduced as extremely arrogant and proud with his goal being “light, goodness and its preservation”(Miller 34). This phrasing strengthens his role as a man of God, but this is not actually displayed in his personality until later. He is very book smart and this leads to some signs of immaturity. This is shown in Act I when Parris questions why the devil would come to Salem. “Why would he [the devil] choose this house to strike?”(39) In response Hale says, “It is the best the Devil wants, and who is better than the minister?”(39) This shows he enjoys the position better than he does its purpose. He is also very eager.
Arthur Miller weaves many events into the story that contribute to the alteration in Hale’s mindset. In the middle of Act 1, Hale arrives and is perceived by the town as “The truth seeker”. Hale is called upon to determine what sort of witchcraft, if any, is occurring (Page 33-35). Hale arrives admired by the people, who all want him to claim it was witchcraft that has occurred. Although unsure, he understands he is being led toward the conclusion of witchcraft by the town’s false pretences and mass hysteria. He begins to see a weakness in the position of the townspeople of Salem and tries to not let common accusations be the support for his diagnosis.
At the beginning of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Reverend John Hale is introduced as an intellectual who is extremely learned in the subject of witchcraft, having had an experience with a witch not long before he was contacted by Reverend Parris of Salem. Due to Reverend Hale’s “experience” with a witch, he is extremely confident in his abilities, as exemplified by the quote “they must be; they are weighted with authority” in which Hale was talking about his books, .This is also shown by his actions when he assesses Betty Parris as she lie in bed sick. In act one Hale is sure of the witchcraft surrounding Betty and the town of Salem, as shown through his conversations with Tituba and Abby on page 1260, where he responds to Tituba saying she
Reverend Hale arrives in Salem thinking that he will become a hero and rid Salem of the devil. Hale is speaking to the townspeople when he says, "Have no fear now--we shall find him out if he has come among us, and I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face!" Hale thinks that there is an actual devil in the town, and they must defeat it. He is trying to show the people of Salem that he is their savior, and that he knows exactly what to do.
Most people in Salem believed those who confessed to witchery but there was a select few that did not. The individual known as Reverend Hale was one of the few. “Excellency, I have signed seventy-two death warrants; I am a minister of the Lord, and I dare not to take a life without there be a proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it” (942). Reverend Hale was tired of signing people to their death just because they wanted to keep their life, not