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Character Analysis Of Reverend Hale In The Crucible

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When Reverend John Hale, in the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, signs the death warrants of multiple people, he unleashes an immense amount of chaos within the town, and himself. Reverend Hale enters Salem, in Massachusetts, “like a bridegroom to his beloved” (4.132) with intent to rid the town of the devil’s work. He hopes to help Salem by solving their witch problems through signing death warrants to those accused of witchcraft. Once Reverend Hale realizes the true corruption taking place in Salem, the deaths of innocent people flood his conscious and drive him to yearn for restoration of peace amongst the citizens in this township. Reverend Hale’s tragic flaws in Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible reveals Hale’s aspiration to revitalize faith and sanity in Salem, which in return lead to his redemption. In …show more content…

When he visits the town with benevolent intentions, his attempts to restore balance by indirectly executing the accused deteriorate his confidence in the court system of Salem. Reverend Hale admits to signing “seventy-two death warrants (3.99)”, as well as signing “away the soul of Rebecca Nurse” (3.100), the voice of reason in this story. Broadcasting this information to the court, Hale exposes the liability he feels for the deaths of many innocent people, which makes his hand shake because he knows he has contributed to the carnage in Salem (3.100). Reverend Hale admits to his guilt, putting on display his rational mentality, which has finally comprehended the absurd mayhem taking place. With this in mind, Hale seeks redemption for his

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Gandhi once said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, when characters are faced with differences between one another, they tend to show what they want the world to see instead of their true beliefs. Reverend Hale fights a battle between what he has been studying his whole life against what he feels is truly right. In the end he completely undergoes an important inner change, he sees the false accusations in the witch trials and changes from believing completely in witchcraft, to protecting the innocent and doing anything in his power to save their

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To begin with, Reverend Hale thought that he has authority due to his incredible power of finding and curing spiritual problems. In the story, people of Salem think that Betty has witchcraft. In order to figure out, the community calls, Reverend Hale, “spiritual doctor”, so he can examine Betty, Parris’s daughter, for witchcraft symptoms or a cure to a spiritual problem. When Hale enters the Parris’ house, Parris, minister of Salem, insisted to carrying the books. After Parris carries the book he mentioned that the books were heavy.

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Reverend Hale is the character that changes the most in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible because his feelings on witchcraft turns from full belief to unbelievable doubt, his thoughts on Proctor changes from thinking that he is evil to thinking that he is a good and honest man, and he switches from doing God’s work to doing the Devil’s. Reverend Hale makes a huge change on his claim of witchcraft. In the beginning of the play when Reverend is called to the town of Salem to see if the reason why Betty and Ruth are unconscious is due to witchcraft he brings with him many books. When Reverend Parris sees this he makes a comment that Hale responds to him explaining his expectations. This shows that Reverend Hale is focused on one thing, finding

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In the year of 1692, 19 innocent people were forced to slowly walk towards a rope that in a matter of seconds would end their lives. These horrific events are something portrayed in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible. In Salem, Massachusetts, a mass hysteria violently spread the fear of witchcraft amongst the Puritan village. Reverend Hale, a so called “expert” in demonic arts, was brought in by Salem's most spiritual figure Reverend Parris to demolish any sign of witchcraft from his home. Yet, Hale is overall culpable for the tragedies that struck Salem because of his false accusations and narrow point of view.

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A dynamic, or round, character is a major character that encounters conflict and is changed by it. Reverend Hale is a dynamic character, he undergoes a dynamic change throughout the play. Based on his transformation, Hale truly is a good man. In Act 1, Hale arrived in Salem to fix a "spiritual problem." He believed witchcraft to be very true and very prevalent in the area.

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Throughout the play, Reverend Hale serves as the voice of reason in the trials. Hale is well educated and respected, and is initially brought in from Beverly to determine the cause of Betty’s ailment that keeps her inanimate in her bed. He directs his focus to seeking out the presence of the Devil in Salem, and then to cleansing the village. However, when Hale realizes that the Girls were manipulating the trials for their own gain, he seeks instead to undo the actions of the court in the name of truth. Miller develops Hale as a character who is willing to sacrifice what might be moral in the name of truth as a means to show how

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Towards the end, Hale changes from a person who carries his heavy written laws to a person who hates the court. During Act III, after Danforth arrested Proctor, Hale is so angry with the court that he yells, "I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!” (Act 3, 120). The quote might seem really simple, but it is significant because Hale finally figures out that the court system is a failure to the society, and also figures out what he should be go after. As a result in Act 4 when Hale tries to convince Elizabeth to tell Proctor to confess, Hale says, “‘Beware, Goody Proctor –cleave to no faith when faith brings blood.

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Knowing all of this, Hale becomes desperate to have Elizabeth save her husband and even wishes for him to sin in order to continue living as a role model for the people of Salem. Hale recognizes the significance of each accused on a personal level and he cannot bear to see them suffer for a crime they did not

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In Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible," Reverend John Hale is portrayed as a man of great faith who is called upon to investigate the mysterious occurrences in Salem, Massachusetts, during the witch trials of the late 17th century. Although Hale initially believes that he is doing God's work by rooting out the supposed witches in the community, he eventually comes to realize that the accusations are baseless and that innocent people are being condemned to death. In this essay, we will explore how Reverend Hale could have prevented the events in Salem by using his knowledge and authority to challenge the prevailing hysteria and superstition. Firstly, Reverend Hale could have used his knowledge of the Bible and his position as a respected member of the community to challenge the accusations of witchcraft.

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Hale no longer believes in the witch trials. Everything Reverend Hale came to Salem for now no longer means anything to him. By this point Reverend Hale, among others, has become fed up with the pretense and falseness of ‘The Salem Witch Trials’ and wants nothing more than for it to be over. (page 84, act four, Miller, Arthur The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts, Viking Press 1953) “ HALE, quickly to Danforth: Excellency, it is enough he confess himself. Let him sign it, let him sign it.”

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The definition of morality is the principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad (Webster 1). In stories, characters have varied moralities like; John Proctor and Judge Danforth, Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams, and Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the characters to show how one's morality can be skewed because of the pressure and influence of society. John Proctor and Judge Danforth exemplify the difference of innocence in morality. Proctor is a well-liked man who has a distinct personality for himself (C. Lacovetti 1).

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In the beginning acts, Hale was trusting the court more than John and was a big part of handling warrants of the accused individuals along with having much confidence in himself, his knowledge of witchcraft, and knowledge of witches in Salem. In Act 2 and 3 in the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the character Reverend Hale was changing a lot. Throughout the first act of this play Reverend Hale had much of his trust in the court and fully believed the devil is in Salem but as the trial begins and goes on things start to change when Hale starts to question the court shown when he pleads

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609 Words | 3 Pages

The witches are on the hunt for the innocent souls of Salem with Hale stating, “The Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points” (Miller 1251). Hale is determined to use God’s mighty hand against the “evil witches”. This shows that Hale is faithful to Abigail’s accusations against the common people of Salem. At first, Reverend Hale is eager to prosecute, but as more innocent people are condemned, his compliance turns into distaste. His dissatisfaction eventually turns into rage when Hale shouts, “I denounce these proceedings!”

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In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, many characters change throughout the story. One that stands out is Reverend John Hale. In the beginning he believes the false accusations of Abigail and the other girls. After listening to John Proctor and Mary Warren he realizes their story is more believable. It broke him to know that he was at fault for 19 innocent deaths.

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Zach Quigley 1/24/2016 Ms. Hempstead English 12 everyday, people's thoughts change. For example, politics, people's thoughts on politics can change. in the play, The Crucible, Reverend Hale's Thoughts over witchcraft in salem changed. To begin, reverend Hale in the beginning of the play, reverend hale was determined to get to the bottom of what's going on in Salem.

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