John Hale Values In The Crucible

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

test, leaving him a choice to either reform himself, or to break himself. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Reverend John Hale’s character develops as he reconstructs his morals and values and questions himself over his diminishing faith in religion and law.

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

accusers. In an argument between John Proctor and a judge of the court, Hale, who can barely contain his rage, questions if “every defense [is] an attack upon the court” (181). Here, Hale’s questioning of the court, which is being done right in front of a judge, indicates that he no longer believes in the court. It is also in this moment, that Hale’s character begins to crack, from which his anger flowed out. His anger also represents his annoyance with the court and his frustration towards himself for having believed in such a corrupted system. All of his doubts in addition to Proctor’s arrest leads Hale to storm out and leave the court, “[slamming] the door to the outside behind him” (194). The outside, which is a motif, symbolizes freedom because it is where Hale escapes to after he leaves the court. In the outside area, there is no court or discussions of witches and hangings. And so, when Hale goes outside, it suggests that he frees himself of the court and leaves behind his once strong belief in the law.
Hale’s morals and his interpretation of religion are also tested with the witchcraft trials in Salem, resulting in his change of character.

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

gallows, Hale decides to reform his beliefs. Although still believing passionately in God, he changes his values and determines that “God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride” (202). This is the turning point for Hale’s character development because he abandons his previous morals. The lies that he associated with the Devil are now tolerable in God’s eyes, and the all-important truth is now second to life. In doing so, Hale chooses to change himself and in a way, refine himself from his old naïve self, into a man who has observed life beyond an old textbook.
Hale experiences many troubling events in the course of The Crucible, and becomes broken in some aspect while becoming reformed in others. The many problems that he endured cut down some of his beliefs but in their place, he found different ideas that he had created from self-experience, and a new insight on life. Although Hale lost traits of himself that he flaunted in the beginning of the play, the parts that remained were stronger and unique only to him.