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Reverend Hale's Hysteria In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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Reverend Hale holds the most blame for the outburst of hysteria because he is seen as an expert in what he does and he takes pride in that. Reverend Hale is seen as a very intellectual man who has studied witchcraft extensively and because of this, people tend to take his word seriously even if it may be false. When Reverend Hale questions Abigail about what happened in the forest, she tries to stay calm but begins to get scared when Hale states that “it may be your cousin is dying. Did you call the Devil last night?” (Miller 42). Abigail gets nervous because she feels trapped in this situation and due to this, she mentions Tituba's name to decrease the tension on her. Throughout the conversation between Hale and Abigail, Hale assumes that Abigail did witchcraft in the forest and asks questions such as “Why are you concealing? Have you sold yourself to Lucifer?” (Miller 43). Without even knowing the full story, Reverend Hale asks such questions and because Abigail is young and is frightened of what may come to her, she blames Tituba. Once Tituba walks in, Abigail immediately points to her and says “She made me do it! She made Betty do it! She makes me drink blood!” (Miller 43). This is when hysteria begins; when Reverend Hale triggers a reaction from Abigail and causing her to falsely accuse Tituba of forcing her to do the things that might show signs of witchcraft. …show more content…

Since Abigail knows that everyone will believe Reverend Hale, she gets nervous when he starts to question her of doing witchcraft so in order to save herself, she blames Tituba and it shows that Reverend Hale is most responsible for the outburst of

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Abigail thought that Reverend Hale began to disbelieve her claims, so she accused his wife. By including this scene, it exaggerates the ongoing theme of mob mentality in The Crucible. Everyone is accusing each other of witchcraft for past or present conflicts between one another, to gain the land of the accused, and even accusing to just join in on the fad of witches. It also presents how immoral Abigail’s character actually is. Just like how selfish Parris is, Abigail only thinks of herself, not caring how her actions affected others.

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Hale is elated to help and sees curing those who have been possessed as “a beloved errand” (36). Hale feels immense pride in himself for being the specialist with a unique knowledge that has at last been required by the people and even feels allied with the best minds of Europe. Therefor, when Hale arrives, he comes with “an armory of symptoms, catchwords and diagnostic procedures” (36) to heroically save the day. At first Hale maintains a professional stance on what is happening in the town rather than succumbing to the popular belief of witchcraft, cautioning the townspeople that “ [they] cannot look directly to superstition in this” (38). However, when Abigail mentions Tituba’s name he is quickly convinced that Tituba is a witch and compels her to provide the names of others that have bound themselves to the evil.

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After Tituba confesses he believes that all the people Abigail, Betty, and Tituba name are witches as well. Reverend Hale comes to Salem with good intentions but by the end of the Act he believes the wrong people and thinks that there are witches in

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The famous renaissance man, Leonardo Da Vinci once said, “Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence”. Ruling Salem in the 17th century, a theocracy, or government run by religious leaders, inhibited separation of the Puritan church and state laws. As a result, the most devout Christians experienced surges in authority because they were the most obedient to the theocracy and its goal of purifying Salem. Therefore, those who were obedient were rewarded, whereas ne'er do wells and other impure people were either corrected or removed from society. Allowing no room for error from its residents, the theocracy even installed “a two-man patrol” (4), appointed to ensure cooperation and righteous behavior.

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This shows Hale feeding Tituba the flames to a fire, giving her the power to accuse any person from the village. Little did he know that this would lead to Abigail and many others accusing innocent people of toying with the Devil. Reverend Hale ultimately proves himself culpable for the hysteria that struck the Salem because of these false accusations. Not only was Hale responsible for incorrect claims, but his narrow point of view widely affected the witch

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The moment Abigail and Titiuba realized there was no escape from being framed as witches, they went along with it, and Hale believed them; of course, he later admitted he was wrong; however, by then, it was

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When Reverend Hale first Appeared in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, he was very different from the person shown at the end of the play ... At first Hale believed that he was to be helpful and that he was doing the right thing, but by the end of the play he was stuck trying to fix his horrifying mistake, weighed down by the guilt from the lives of those killed. When Hale first appears in Act I, he is on his way to Salem in order to see Reverend Parris’ daughter, Betty. Abigail began accusing many people of witchcraft, which then led Betty to “wake” and join her in the accusations. this strengthened hale’s belief that he was doing good for the town of salem, encouraging him to stay in town and further the trials at hand.

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The Salem witch trials that were held in 1692 inspired author Arthur Miller to write The Crucible. Dozens were accused of witchcraft only to save the hide of another towns member. Men from out of town were called in to put the accusations at rest. This did not work. The Proctors, most well known name in the town, were arrested and punished accordingly.

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said,”When you were with the devil who did you see with him”(1-143.144). At this point, Abigail William is speechless, but then she starts to blame people. Also it doesn’t matter what Abigail says, because she is a witness of witchcraft, so she will save her own tail besides saving others. Reverend Hale is asking specific questions, forcing Abigail to lie. This is wrong because Reverend Hale is refueling Abigail Williams thought process with lies.

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When Hale asked Abigail why she was dancing around a fire and saying spells, she didn’t want to get hanged so she said Tituba made her do it. Abigail says "She sends her spirit out on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer. "(Act 1) Hale believes Abigail and asks Titubia why she did it and she says that she knows nothing of this. Then Abigail says 'Don't lie!

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Hale, defeated, weeps in prayer as Proctor is sent to hung. Reverend Hale's downfall in the novel was his quick assumption that there was witchcraft in Salem. Everyone's fear of the unknown and the chance of witches being present in Salem caused many deaths due to jumping to conclusions. Although he had the best intentions to bring justice to Salem, he made an improper call. He realizes his error and tries with all he has to make it right, but fails.

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One example is when she blames Tituba for making her laugh during prayer and to drink blood. Abigail Williams tells Hale, “She sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer!... She comes to me every night to go and drink blood!” (41). Abigail tells Reverend Hale this to make sure she doesn 't get blamed or caught doing witchcraft in her right mind, but to preserve her reputation she says that Tituba made her do it and that she had no choice.

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This is the moment when the confident Reverend Hale begins to crumble. Reverend Hale maintains his level-head and a degree of self-confidence, wishing for a more proper evaluation of the evidence. He remains much the way he came, level headed and confident, but now the people have broken into hysteria, and even judges of the court will not carry out his wishes. (pg. 103. The Crucible) Reverend Hale is accustomed to people listening to him, but this begins to change as fear, hysteria, and vengeance grips the town, and his good conscience forces him

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Once Abigail is indicted of witch craft she exclaims that Tituba "...sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer," Tituba quickly retaliates only for Abigail to inform Reverend Hale she is lying (Miller 43). Albeit Abigail wasn't so selfish and took the punishment she deserved, none of the accusations would have been made. Protecting herself was her only goal but little did she know that it started the whirlwind of dreadful events. Abigail makes things worse when she has to threaten the other girls such as Betty to lie. Abigail warns the girls that if, "...either of [them] breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and [she] will come to [them] in the black of some terrible night and [she] will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you" (Miller 20), it was crystal clear that if one rats her out they're dead.

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In “Tragedy and the Tragic Flaw” Aristotle describes a tragic hero as a person with a fatal flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. In the novel “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, one important tragic hero is Reverend Hale. In the beginning of his arrival, Hale is what Aristotle describes the tragic hero to equate too, “happy, powerful, and privileged.” Unfortunately, as time passes, Hale comes to realize the inaccurate accusations against innocence citizens and by that time it is too late to correct it. He is “suffering immensely because of his own actions or mistakes.”

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