Throughout history there has been a number of martyrs celebrated for their heroism and integrity in defending their truths and beliefs to the very end. Nathan Hale, for example, is an American soldier and spy during the American Revolution who was captured by British soldiers. Instead of giving any information and compromising his strong beliefs in defending the United States, Hale was hung. Now, Hale is considered an American hero, and was officially declared the state hero of Connecticut. Similarly, John Proctor, and other characters, from Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, are placed in a situation where they must decide if dying with integrity is more important than falsely confessing and living a life of compromised principals that may
Characterization John Proctor: John Proctor is an old farmer who is the protagonist of this play to be the one to resolve the conflict of the story. In the beginning of the play, John is very conservative as he firmly denies the possibility of witchcraft and tries to stay away from being part of it. He has a round personality, for he has multiple sides such as high self-esteem and short temper, described as that he “cannot refuse to support to partisans without drawing their deepest resentment” (69). When he is discussing possible approach to address the wrongfully accused people of Salem, he is faced with an external conflict of standing against the radical court to prove that his wife Elizabeth his innocent of being part of the witchcraft.
When Reverend Hale first enters the story he is depicted as someone with great knowledge and authority. Proctor tells Hale on page 185, “I’ve heard you were a sensible man, Mister Hale - I hope you’ll leave some of it in Salem.” Hale is well known to people around Salem and he is known for possessing great knowledge. The people will listen to what Hale has to say, but know that his presence means that there is suspicion of witchcraft.
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
Elizabeth Proctor, John’s wife told John to do what he thinks is best, disagreeing with the ideas proposed by Reverend Hale, to confess to the court. Reverend Hale’s
When trying to save John Proctor, Hale tells Elizabeth, "You know, do you not, that I come of my own Goody Proctor" (Miller 206). Hale did not associate with the courts, he wanted to do what he viewed as
As he is busy accusing other people of their superstitions, Hale tried to keep his wits about him, “Have no fear now-we shall find him out if he has come among us”(43). This shows the reader and the other characters that Hale is very confident in his job and that he is not willing to give it up for anything. Hale seems to be very arrogant as he goes about his work in the beginning of the text. “We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise..”
Reverend Hale looks at his job much differently. He no longer takes pride in his line of work, but now is more ashamed and it is clear that he is. He even tells Goody Proctor to “Cleave to no faith when faith brings blood” (Miller 234). He recognizes that he came with a wrong reason, but now he believes that his duty is to make right what has gone wrong in Salem. He realizes that survival is most important above all else and that it is human nature for people to do whatever it takes to survive, and that he was blinded by the literal meaning of the bible.
His admiration of the court goes down as he sees more people being hanged and the stubbornness of the court. In the end, Hale knows that the law is not the entire aspect of creating a perfect society, no one in a society needs to follow the law entirely, and that authority does not always judge over everything. He has no more confidence in the idea of dominance of God over anything in life, and by that mean he loses his faith to the court. Not just those, he doesn’t carry the heavy written laws since the beginning. When Hale loses his faith towards the court and the society, he earns empathy and respect from us the readers and proving how moral obligation plays a bigger role than civic duty when it comes to real difficulties in a
The Reverend’s Loss. In a spiritual-judicial endeavor, a priest loses his sense of self, his piety, and his sanity. In ‘The Crucible By Arthur Miller’, when Reverend Hale first stepped into the light, he was very pious and very confident in his mission to eradicate witchcraft in Salem. Though as the play progresses Hale’s demeanor changes, communicating a sort of despair in the way he carries himself.
Throughout the play The Crucible, there are several transformations among characters. One strong transformation is that of Reverend Hale. Hale epitomizes a very dynamic character. Throughout all of the drama in Salem, Hale changes drastically from a man with intentions to free the world from the clutches of satan to a person who realizes the Salem witch trials were all based on lies and tomfoolery.
His despair and weeping show he truly cared, and it shows what a respectable man he is. In real life and in this fiction story, Hale truly did all he could to help Salem,
This change revealed that Hale was a fair man and with time he had much reason when he knew that the girls were manipulating Salem. Also, he would become more apparent rather than being arrogant and confident when he realises the evil and corruption of these witch trials. His change shows he’s a fair man who only wants to find the truth and use these trials to find if there is a devil in someone not a place of convicting hangings no matter what evidence is given unless you
Society has always perpetuated a firm distinction between that perceived as “good” and that of “evil.” Human nature, however, does not function in terms of absolutes such as these. As a way to attempt reconciliation between these seemingly paradoxical statements, art and literature have developed into mediums which have made the study of morality accessible. Because of this direct connection, Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible can be seen as an exploration into the human psyche. Within the drama, Miller succeeds in juxtaposing the role of the “saint” with that of the “sinner,” thus returning to the basic, human debate between righteousness and corruption. While many, if not all, of the characters display some level of this conflict, the
John Proctor is a good man despite anything others may say about him. He displays three very noble qualities throughout the witch trials which are bravery, honesty, and an overall goal to save lives even to the point where he sacrificed his. While many argue John is a bad man because he committed adultery they are entirely mistaken. Just because he had one bad sin gives no right to anybody to call him a bad person when clearly the good side of him is shown more than the bad. John Proctor is a good man who displays the characteristics of a hero and could be seen as one for giving his life for his friends.
