The book was written during 1953, where WWII had ended. However the United States and Soviet Union still have conflicts within each other. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, it reflects the problems during 1953 by showing the chaos and conflicts that happened in a Salem society. Many audiences focus on the importance of John Proctor(main character) rather than Reverend Hale. Hale was a young and righteous man who fought for justice. His attitude towards the Salem society has changed drastically throughout his stay. At the beginning he was a naive man who believed and put trust upon the court, but by the end he has lost all his faith in the justice system. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, he portrays Hale as an ever changing character, an individual who believes in what the right thing is. Miller shows Hale's change in attitude throughout his stay in Salem, in order to convey the theme of the conflict between civic duty verse moral obligation which …show more content…
reflects the difficulties people are experiencing nowadays. It all began with the arrival of Reverend Hale to Salem with a strong trust towards the system. He came in to Salem with a strong sense of arrogance to the witchcraft situation. When Hale just arrived to Salem and met Parris during Act 1, Parris first said. “Mr Hale!....My, they’re (books) heavy!”(36). As Hale replied. “They must be; they are weighted with authority”(36). The heavy books symbolize all the laws are the voice of the society and this is how order and peace are given to the society. Furthermore, during Act 2, Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse, are accused of witchcraft, the court and people were arguing about it, and Hale, with a sense of justice said, "`I have seen too many frightful proofs in court - the Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points!'"(68). Once again, he supported the court without a moment of doubt, and for him this is what it fulfill his duty. One reason he lean towards to the law is because the law gave him this authority and power to survive. Another reason why he would trust the court is because the the court is the mainstreams, or in another word common interest, where all the majority were at. And when a specific concept is adopted by the majority, it naturally becomes a justification among the society. During the process of solving the witchcraft problems, there was a slight transformation in the beliefs of Reverend Hale. After Elizabeth got taken to the prison during the end of Act II, he said to Proctor. “‘Proctor, I cannot think God be provoked so grandly by such a petty cause. The jails are packed our greatest judges sit in Salem now and hangin's promised...I shall pray God open up our eyes”(79). Hale’s will was shaken while seeing the heartbroken scene of Elizabeth leaving Proctor; he becomes convinced that they, not Abigail, are telling the truth. In addition, Hale pleads with Danforth,’” I cannot say he is an honest man; I know him little. But in all justice, sir, a claim so weighty cannot be argued by a farmer. In God’s name, sir, stop here; send him home and let him come again with a lawyer’”(99). He wants to let Proctor return to court later with a lawyer however Danforth refuses it. Surprisingly it was Hale for the first time go against the authority. Now he slightly changed from supporting the law to the one who opposes the witch trials. However he is still struggling in between his civic duty and his self-interest. Towards the end, it was obvious that Hale changed from a person who carried his heavy written laws into a person who hated the court and wants to leave. During Act III, after Danforth arrests Proctor, Hale is so angered with the court and yelled, "I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!” (120). He finally figured out now that the court system is corrupt and biased, and also what he should be pursuing. The people of Salem are not able to defend themselves against the court system without being condemned for their attempt. For this reason, Reverend Hale finds it necessary to break all relations with the court. He does not want to be associated with a system so corrupt and feared by the people of Salem. Not only does Reverend Hale change in his beliefs, he also changes his sense of duty in Salem. Reverend Hale goes through a momentous change in his views and beliefs in regard to his estimation of the power of the law and authority.
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
place.
The test that Reverend John Hale faces is whether he can change his character early enough to redeem himself for the lives he has caused to be lost. He is the character that shows the most significant transformation overall. When he first comes to Salem, he is eager to find witchcraft and is honored that his scholastic skills are necessary. He feels that as an exorcist, it is his duty to help pe...
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.
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
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.
He starts to doubt whether the court system is actually doing justice. The court system was killing the innocents and it was unfair because it stated that people were guilty until proven innocent. Hale realizes that there is no way to prove that someone is innocent which upsets him. Therefore he tries to get people to confess in order to save their lives. This is a change is character because he changes his morals. John Ditsky from the Gale database says“Hale's denunciation at the end of Act Three and the already-discussed ending of the play complete a consistent pattern of strongly structured dramatic episodes in the Ibsenian mode” (Overview). He is denounces what he believed to be good and he denounces his belief in God. The Crucible also states, “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court”(Miller 111). Hale realizes how he can no longer control what happens and the trials are no longer in his hands so he tells them how he feels. Hale has a decrease of faith in the court system by seeing innocent people be put to death and having the court trials get out of
“Mr. Hale is nearing forty, a tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual.” (32, Arthur Miller). He is a minister from Beverly who has been summoned to Salem by Reverend Parris to investigate his daughter Betty’s condition and whether or not there is witchcraft in Salem. If he finds there to be witchcraft, he would then eliminate it. Hale devotes himself to his faith and his work. His good intentions, and sincere desire to help the afflicted, motivate him. He wants nothing more than to get to the bottom of this situation and come out the hero. Unfortunately, this also makes him vulnerable. His desire for discovering witchcraft allows others, particularly Abigail, to manipulate him. Nonetheless, Hale 's perspective does not stay constant. In The
The play, ‘The Crucible’, Arthur Miller explores the universal message of the fragility of society. The play is a dramatization of collective social madness or commonly known as mob mentality, in the 17th century America, which is an analogy of the twentieth century cold war era of McCarthyism. The Salem community is governed by a theocratic society devoted to uphold the beliefs of god, with no room for ‘un-puritan’ action, which are deemed actions of the devil. The main theme of the play is personal integrity, which is clearly displayed in the characters of Abigail Williams, John proctor and Deputy Governor Danforth.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, as most know, was written as a commentary on the Red Scare in the 1950s and the massive paranoia surrounding it. There is another interesting connection to history that can be made, however, to Elizabethan era England. Shakespeare wrote many classic plays, and he often utilized the tragic hero to elicit the desired feeling and to examine the foibles of mankind. Miller uses a common farmer from the town of Salem as his main protagonist, and Miller writes the play in such a way that John Proctor is given the attributes of a tragic hero. Not only is the play a nuanced perspective on the current day (1953) linking the witch hunts to the spread of Communism, but it also reveals
The Crucible is a book written by Arthur Miller Americas most foremost playwright, born on October 17th 1915 in New York at 15 he experienced the Great Depression as his father went bankrupt. He released The Crucible in 1953 around the time when he was accused of being a communist spy. He named the book The Crucible because of the words many meanings. Throughout the play the characters encounter many problems which make force them to question their own selves and their faith. The term crucible can be used to describe the heat of a situation this shown when innocent people are caught up in the craziness of the witch hunt – a situation which was blown way out of proportion. Whereas in the final moments of the play another term for ‘crucible’ was shown which means to put to a severe test. Proctor has to make the ultimate choice, heaven or hell, sins or pure. Salem was an unstable town which was part of what made the girls stories to be believed, they were more willing to believe the word of a young house girl rather than the word of a respected member of the community.
...he Crucible, ethical characters adhere to their true beliefs and are not swayed by the influence of the court. During the hysteria in Salem, Proctor grows as a character, and eventually makes peace with himself. Miller scrutinizes the theme of ethical behavior in the play in order to draw a parallel with the hysteria during the era of McCarthyism. In America in the 1950s, it took a great deal of integrity to refute the accusations of communism against public figures. Although the witchcraft hysteria of the late 1600s and the McCarthy era are different in a variety of ways, both were resolved through universal human integrity. The ability to do a morally good deed and disregard the possibility of it being detrimental to oneself is a valuable trait that should not be overlooked.
Rev. Hale enters Salem with high hopes and the intent to stop the witch craze occurring in a small puritan village. He comes with books that are handed down by the brain of God. When questioned by the weight of those books he replies, “citation” this informs us that Hale has large beliefs and ambitions in the town of Salem because he genuinely believes
The Crucible published in 1953 by Arthur Miller. However, the setting of the play takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692. Miller had a purpose to write the ‘The Crucible’; he wanted to share with everyone his view of Communism. He wanted to give knowledge to those who did not know about how people around the world were falsely accusing each other of being Communist during the 1950’s in America. Mccarthyism is falsely accusing someone of being communist and they would often be hanged. There were many people that were innocent, but still they were accused for contempt of court, spying, and being a communist during the Red Scare. In The Crucible, many people were being accused of witches and in the Red Scare, they were falsely being accused of being a communist. The Crucible is an allegory between the Salem Witch Trials and the tension that occurred in the Red Scare/ McCarthyism. There are three characters Abigail, John, and Elizabeth who are in The Crucible that are worried about keeping their reputation.
Circumstances brought upon a person can change them greatly. The Crucible is in part based on McCarthyism in the 1950’s which was similar to the Salem Witch trials. Reverend Hale undergoes an immense change as he starts finding out the lies going on in Salem. Slowly, he adjusts from being confident to doubtful. Hale having such a great change in opinion demonstrates the true dysfunction and chaos of Salem. In “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, the changes Hale experiences are proven by the things he says, the things he does, and others opinion of him.
The Salem witch trials left the village in disarray with the deaths of many beloved people. Reverend Hale, among the ones who survived, was originally brought to Salem to fix the issue of witchcraft but actually heightened the problem. Hale got to know the people being accused he realized the girls were corrupt and the cry of witchcraft was a lie. Hale turned on his practice of witchcraft to try to make things right and save these people, but his efforts failed. The character of Reverend Hale shows how a person's beliefs can change over time. In the end, Reverend Hale was caught in a horrendous situation he took part in creating and could not save the good people of
Hale changes from being in favor of the witch trials to opposing it because of the obviously innocent people that are sentenced to death. The Reverend is able to see his sins and the evils around him, and he reveal his strength and will in standing up for what he knows is right. He shows the reader that it is not one's reputation or fulfilling a job that is justifiable to God, but one's ability to protect His will of