Judge Hathorne In The Crucible

One of the biggest shocks people hear when it comes to the Crucible is that those characters were real, which makes the weight of their deaths that much heavier. A total of 20 people died in the Salem Witch Trials: 19 of them were hanged, and one was tortured to death by pressing; that person was Giles Corey. Not much is said about Giles Corey in the play, but it is said that actions speak louder than words, and that is true for him. When he refused to utter the names of others that might’ve been involved with witchcraft, he set himself up to be tortured to death and yet never said anything other than “more weight” (Miller, 207). Although he is a minor character, Giles Corey plays the role of an anti-hero, who not only displays probably the

Judge Hathorne is displayed as a very ruthless and almost unforgiving kind of person. This can be seen, especially, as he is accusing Martha Corey of being a witch and saying that she is “hurting these children” (Miller, 180) His ruthlessness can also be seen as he is basically forcing Mary Warren to faint to be able to prove that she was lying. (Miller, 191) His unforgiving nature is constant, though, unlike Reverend Hale. Reverend Hale begins the play completely certain and sure of the righteousness in his calling. But as time passes, it is seen how much this character has been corrupted. As he speaks to Elizabeth, nearing the end of the play, he exhorts her to tell her husband to lie to be saved. But he is not asking John Proctor to lie so that he may be saved and live on, but he is asking him to lie so he doesn’t feel guilty if he does die. “I would save your husband’s life, for if he is taken I count myself his murderer.”(Miller, 206) Through this, it is seen that Reverend Hale started to minister lies and deceit over the truth, and so he became a hostage to his own guilt and uncertainty. Unlike them, Giles Corey changes for the better. He dies honorably and selflessly. The judges in the trial are able to see the fear that the masses produce over the rest of the people in Salem. They themselves are afraid of how those masses might perceive them, but that is not the case with Giles. Giles goes ahead and stays silent, neither denying nor confessing to the charges of witchcraft, which may leave space for people to think whatever they want about him; but his silence expresses more than the lies those judges were trying to make the people