Character Changes In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

The Crucible Essay

When a life is at stake, everyone changes, except for those that are truly evil. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, each if the characters of Proctor, Hale, and Parris change from the beginning to the end of the play. Proctor becomes more honest; Hale becomes more skeptical of his mission; and Parris finds in himself some shred of humanity. These characters when through emotional and mental changes.

Across the course of the play, John Proctor became more honest with himself, his wife, and his community. At the beginning of the play, John is dishonest with himself and prideful. He once said “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out

In the beginning, Parris was selfish and didn’t believe in witches. Towards the end, he became more sympathetic and started to believe in witches. He once said “Then why can she not move herself since midnight? This child is desperate! It must come out-my enemies will bring it out. Let me know what you done there. Abigail, do you understand that I have many enemies?”(Miller) When he said that he was complaining to Abigail, the girl that helped cause the witch trials to begin, that he didn’t believe that Beth was really ill, and was just Abigail trying to tarnish his reputation. Later on he stated “Now Mr. Hale’s returned, there is hope, I think - for if he bring even one of these to God, that confession surely damns the others in the public eye, and none may doubt more that they are all linked to Hell. This way, unconfessed and claiming innocence, doubts are multiplied, many honest people will weep for them, and our good purpose is lost in their tears.”(Miller) When he says that, he is arguing with Danforth about the trials and that too many of them have been convicted or accused. He is trying to save lives and he isn’t doing it to help himself. Parris has lost his selfishness and has become

Throughout the course of The Crucible, characters John Proctor, Reverend Hale, and Reverend Parris changed. John became more honest, meanwhile Reverend Hale and Parris both became more sympathetic. Almost every character changed in the play. The few exceptions were with Abigail, her group of girls, and Danforth. Abigail was led by jealousy and lust. She rallied up a group of girls and caused the trials to begin. She never confessed that she was wrong and ran away in hopes of never getting in trouble. Danforth was the judge of the witch trials. He was told repeatedly that they were wrong, but he never did a thing about it. He only ended the trials after John Proctor was educated because he thought continuing would hurt his reputation. Miller is trying to warn us that if we succumb to hysteria, we become irrational and forget our better