The Crucible is an allegorical play written by Arthur Miller that criticizes McCarthyism during the 1950s through an historical event called the Salem witchcraft trials. The main protagonist is John Proctor, a man with a good reputation for being an honest and a diligent person. The second most important character, Reverend Hale, is a witchcraft expert who comes to Salem to determine whether or not witchcraft is present in Salem. They both are devout Puritans; however, they are different in the ways they show their piety, causing them to have numerous similarities and differences. Proctor and Hale, are similar because they both see the genuine motivations behind the accusations and struggle to defend the people being harmed. Despite these similarities, they also have major differences in their nature; since they have contrasting levels of devotion to Puritanism and to the moral principles they live by.
Reverend Hale and John Proctor are both similar because they discover the malicious intentions of the accusations, and tries to avert further damage dealt by these false accusations. When John first hears about the trials, he doubts the legitimacy of the court proceedings. He even considers going to Salem to persuade the Deputy Governor from convicting innocent people. Although, he does not consider the trials to be a significant event, he eventually learns about the gravity of the situation. He also learns that Abigail has accused Elizabeth of conducting witchcraft. In the