The Crucible Essay; Reverend John Hale American playwright, Arthur Miller, in his play The Crucible (1952), suggests that witch hunts still exist in American Society. Miller supports this claim by drawing parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and the Senator Joseph McCarthy trials. His purpose is to warn his readers of the dangers of concerning with mass hysteria. He uses emotional appeals and logic to convince the reader that mass “hunts” are still a danger to Americans today. The main way, however, that Miller achieves his ultimate goal of demonstrating the concept of reputation vs integrity is through his characterization of Reverend John Hale. Reverend John Hale is portrayed as an internally conflicted character in The Crucible because …show more content…
Reverend Hale explains, “Excellency, I have signed seventy two death warrants; …I dare not take a life without there be proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it” (Act III, 45). He believes that these people are innocent but the evidence that was displayed to the court was much more powerful than his opinion. Hale signed these death warrants because he was well respected in Salem and other towns as well and worried if he put his McConnell 2 ideas first and spoke up about these people’s guilt that society would turn against him and convict him. The effect that this had on his character was that it made him appear as a bad man even though he was really a good man. Reverend Hale stays silent about knowing that Abigail and the other girls are false and are not tormented by witches. Hale explains to the court, “ But this child claims the girls are not truthful, and if they are not -” (Act III, 45). He stays silent and did not bring this up again because he feared that if he spoke up about Abigail and the girls that Abigail would twist and lie and try her hardest to get him convicted and hung next. Nineteen innocent people got hung as a result of Abigail’s lies and Hale’s lack of ability to speak up against her. Abigail escaped Salem and was not punished for everything she
" 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.
he has spent his whole life in the study of it. “We cannot look to
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.
There are many secrets and hidden feuds circulating in the town of Salem that he is unaware of when he first arrives. It takes Hale a long time to come to terms with how wicked the town has become, and how they use witchcraft as an excuse to get even with those they feel have wronged them. He gets caught up in the trials, even acting alongside the court. Once the truth about Abigail Williams and her followers is revealed by John Proctor to be a scam, he vocalizes what he’s really thinking “I believe him! This girl has always struck me as false!” (50), “You cannot believe them!” (51), and finally “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!”
Honor, dignity, and integrity are traits that are becoming more and more rare in our society. The Crucible, a play written in 1952 by Arthur Miller, is based on the Salem witch hunts of 1692 and parallels the Red Scare and McCarthyism in the 1950s. In the play, Miller attempts to focus his themes around traits such as honor, dignity, and integrity, and as a result, the theme "is it better to die honorably or live dishonorably" becomes vital to the story and well conveyed throughout it. The characters that exemplify this idea are John Proctor and Giles Corey, both of whom die by the end of the play, and Reverend John Hale and Abigail Williams, who live through the trials.
When Hale came to Salem, his heavy books gave him confidence.”They must be; they are weighted with authority” (Miller, 1279). By Act II, he begins to change in his belief, that what he has brought to
After Hale acknowledges his flaw, his character changes to a minister who wants to save the lives of the false accusations, so he goes against the “flawless” court. After Danforth accused John Proctor of witchcraft and sent him to jail, Hale “denounce[d] these proceedings” (120). Danforth had said that a person is either with the court or against it, and Reverend Hale chose to go against it although he was a faithful minister. Also, he tried to save John proctor’s life by asking Elizabeth to make John confess because Hale had signed seventy two death warrants and regretted it. The reason that Hale gave to Elizabeth to save Proctor’s life was that “life is God’s most precious gift” (132). At this point Reverend Hale wanted to bring justice to the court even if Proctor had to make a false
Now I know what you are thinking: ‘Abigail Williams should be hanged for her crimes and for the false accusations of women in Salem.’
He asked John Proctor if he believed in the people that are being accused are real witches. “Hale: (quietly-it has impressed him) ...It’s said you hold no belief that there may even be witches in the world. Is that true, sir?” (Miller 73). John Proctor can either answer true or false to this question if he answer true than Hale may think he is a witch. If he answers falsely then he will also think he is a witch. No matter what you answer the person can still be right is called a gotcha question. Hale is now doubting his former convictions. “Hale: But it does not follow that everyone accused is part of it,” (Miller 103). Hale is starting to believe that the girls are being hypocrites and is faking the witch-hunt. So far, several women and men went to jail because of the accusations that were being made. Hale now believes John Proctor after he states that he has committed adultery because John Proctor wants to save his name and wouldn’t tell anyone. “Hale: I believe him!...This girl has always struck me false! She has- (Abigail...screams up to the ceiling.)” (Miller 119). He now believes that the witch accusers is all fake and made up so the group of girls can have attention on them. Abigail told them that if they go to the judge and tell them the truth then “...I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you…” (Miller 20). Hale has chosen that Proctor is telling the truth and the group of girls including Mary Warren, who is the Proctor’s servant, is lying about the people in Salem being
The Crucible, a play written in the 1950’s by American playwright, Arthur Miller, is based on the chaotic witch hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts during the 1600’s. Abigail, a sinful protagonist in the play, is the root to the myriad problems that conspire throughout the play. She is to blame for the executions of innocent citizens, and for acts of lechery between marriages. An important reappearing theme throughout the play is one’s reputation and the extremes the characters would take in order to preserve their name. The characters in The Crucible, particularly, Parris, John Proctor, and Judge Danforth, use the sanctity of their names to prioritize how they will look in the public eye, rather than what is beneficial to them individually.
Hale does not start out as such however. In fact he is the reason the witch hunts are started. In the beginning of the play Hale is called to Salem to determine whether or not witchcraft is afoot. Witchcraft is expertise, and Hale, eager and naïve, wants to determine whether or not the devil is in Salem. His analysis is that Tituba is controlling the girls’ souls, leading the girls, starting with Abigail of course, to shout out various people they saw convening with the devil while they were under the control of Tituba. Hale, blindly and unquestioningly conforms to the rest of the town and believes the girls. In fact he leads the way, resulting in fourteen arrests. He is completely unphased by this, and wholly believes that they are all witches and that by arresting them he is doing God’s work.
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.
Events have played out in history that made people realize the inhumane acts of people and the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy era were two of them. The Salem witch trials in 1692 were almost 260 years before the McCarthy “witch hunts” in the 1950s yet there are similarities between them. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is about the Salem witch trials and is an allegory to the practicing of McCarthyism during the Second Red Scare in the United States, which Miller was a victim of. Although there may be differences between “The Crucible” and McCarthyism, ultimately the anger, lack of evidence, and the people were alike in both events.
The play “The Crucible” is an allegory for the McCarthyism hysteria that occurred in the late 1940’s to the late 1950’s. Arthur Miller’s play “the crucible” and the McCarthyism era demonstrates how fear can begin conflict. The term McCarthyism has come to mean “the practice of making accusations of disloyalty”, which is the basis of the Salem witch trials presented in Arthur Miller’s play. The fear that the trials generate leads to the internal and external conflicts that some of the characters are faced with, in the play. The town’s people fear the consequences of admitting their displeasure of the trials and the character of John Proctor faces the same external conflict, but also his own internal conflict. The trials begin due to Abigail and her friends fearing the consequences of their defiance of Salem’s puritan society.