The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 wreaked havoc on Puritanical society. Nineteen Salemites were executed for supposed witchcraft. This travesty was caused by a number of Salemites who set the event in motion and others who spoke against it. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, certain characters disapproved the trial while others propelled the rising hysteria. Reverend Hale is unique in that he has characteristics attributed to both sides. Hale begins as a witchcraft aficionado, with full belief in the court, and unwavering adherence to its strict laws. However, he soon realizes the fallacy of the court’s accusations and makes a dramatic, advantageous shift away from his dependency on the laws and develops his own, more secular beliefs. Miller introduces Reverend Hale as …show more content…
Hale not only loses faith in the church, he also moves towards a more honorable attitude. He became less concerned with his reputation and place among the top witchcraft officials, and more concerned with the accused whose lives had been ruined. He even directly states he would no longer destroy the lives of innocent people: “I am a minister of the Lord, and I dare not take a life without there be proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscious may doubt it”. Hale uses his newfound righteousness to try to halt the trials and to save the accused. When that fails, he tries to convince Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor to confess in a desperate attempt to save their lives. Hales tells Proctor’s wife "It is mistaken law that leads you to sacrifice. Life, woman, life is God's most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it.” Hale has great remorse for all those he condemned to hanging and had a desire to rectify his sins. He moves away from the false facts and spectral evidence of the court towards what his moral compass tells him is