ipl-logo

How Does Arthur Miller Present Hale In The Crucible

466 Words2 Pages

Arthur Miller, a prominent twentieth century playwright, is well-known for his play The Crucible. The play opens in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. The Puritan religion is against dancing and singing because the Puritans believe these are sensuous activities. The Puritans also believe that Satan tempts human beings to carry out his work. Fear and hysteria strike Salem over the belief that the devil is in the town because Parris’s niece, Abigail Williams, was found dancing in the forest with other girls and Parris’s servant; and soon after two young girls fall sick. The town suspects the girls of witchcraft; however, Parris does not want to believe witchcraft is the cause of the trouble in Salem; so he calls in Reverend …show more content…

Miller describes Hale as conceiving of himself like a young doctor on his first call. Hale arrives n Salem overflowing with confidence and carrying big, heavy books. When Parris comments on the weight of Hale’s books he replies, “They must be, they are waited with authority.” Hale means that the books have all the answers to Salem’s problems. Hale is overflowing with confidence because he has never experienced failure. He does not think he will have any trouble ridding Salem of its troubles. When Hale starts his investigation of Salem he begins to believe witchcraft could be responsible. When Parris tells Hale about the night he found the girls dancing in the forest, and Hale tells Parris that he wants to talk to those girls. Once Hale starts asking the girls what happened in the forest, they think they might hang for witchcraft. Because they think they are in danger of being hanged, the girls begin to beg forgiveness from God and confess to Hale who they saw with the devil. Hale believes he has cured Salem’s problem, “Glory to God!. It is broken, they are free!” Hale exclaims. Hale believes he has cured the problem so quickly because he came in to Salem with so much confidence and he did not believe he could

Show More
Related
314 Words | 2 Pages

To begin with, Reverend Hale thought that he has authority due to his incredible power of finding and curing spiritual problems. In the story, people of Salem think that Betty has witchcraft. In order to figure out, the community calls, Reverend Hale, “spiritual doctor”, so he can examine Betty, Parris’s daughter, for witchcraft symptoms or a cure to a spiritual problem. When Hale enters the Parris’ house, Parris, minister of Salem, insisted to carrying the books. After Parris carries the book he mentioned that the books were heavy.

Read More
273 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More
690 Words | 3 Pages

The Crucible was based in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The book starts off with Reverend Parris finding the girls in the woods dancing. Upon finding them Betty Reverend Parris’s daughter and some of the girls become ill. Abigail Reverend Parris’s niece tells him that when he found them in the wood Betty was so frightened when Parris found her she fainted and won’t wake. With Betty and the other girls unable to wake rumors of witchcraft start around the community.

Read More
806 Words | 4 Pages

When he first enters Salem it seems his head is held high with knowledge and determination, but he will not allow any conclusions to be made unless they are from his books that guide him through witchcraft cases. After Abigail reveals she did not see the devil, Hale immediately makes an accusation and suspiciously asks, “Why are you concealing? Have you sold yourself to Lucifer?” (Miller 1259). Because of Hale’s authority, Abigail becomes defensive and puts the blame on Tituba.

Read More
469 Words | 2 Pages

A dynamic, or round, character is a major character that encounters conflict and is changed by it. Reverend Hale is a dynamic character, he undergoes a dynamic change throughout the play. Based on his transformation, Hale truly is a good man. In Act 1, Hale arrived in Salem to fix a "spiritual problem." He believed witchcraft to be very true and very prevalent in the area.

Read More
1033 Words | 5 Pages

(35) This shows that Hale is so involved in his work that he could possibly end up accusing someone who was not guilty of witchcraft. Hale seems overly conscious about his own life and his duty to serve the people to find the devil in Salem; he doesn’t seem to like the idea that he himself could be wicked. This shows that Hale too, did not show himself to be truthful and courteous when it came to the

Read More
671 Words | 3 Pages

In the New England town of Salem, Massachusetts, a group of girls goes dancing in the forest with a black slave named Tituba. They are caught by Reverend Parris right in the middle of dancing. One of the girls, The Parris’s daughter Betty, falls into a deep a coma after being caught dancing with the other girls. A crowd gathers at Reverend Parris’s home while rumors of witchcraft circle the town. After having sent for Reverend Hale, the expert on witchcraft in Salem, Parris questions Abigail Williams, Parris’s niece and one of the girls caught on seen about what had taken place in the forest.

Read More
533 Words | 3 Pages

Knowing all of this, Hale becomes desperate to have Elizabeth save her husband and even wishes for him to sin in order to continue living as a role model for the people of Salem. Hale recognizes the significance of each accused on a personal level and he cannot bear to see them suffer for a crime they did not

Read More
865 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout The Crucible, during the Salem Witch Trials, Reverend Hale slowly changes from a ‘confident man with a plan’, to a haggard preacher who seems to be losing himself amongst the chaos of these colonial trials based off of lies. After a life-altering experience, Hale is never again the same person he started out as. In the beginning of

Read More
548 Words | 3 Pages

Now because of the poor choice of dancing naked in the woods, one of her good friends are very sick. (Can Reverend Hale help them before it gets too late?) In Salem, witchcraft is blamed upon Betty’s illness. When all is said and done, Salem seems to be a very dangerous home for the people living there. Now it is all up to Reverend Hale to fix this terrible act.

Read More
560 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More
550 Words | 3 Pages

Reverend Hale is a character who changes his thoughts about witchcraft after seeing the horror that he had caused. He comes into Salem as someone who wants to prove that witchcraft exists after previous failed attempts (Miller 1146). Despite his animus, his reason for coming to Salem changed after he realizes that the people accused are innocent (1224). However, Hale only wanted to prove his theory but instead, he ended up destroying a town in return. Witchcraft seemed like a logical matter in Salem.

Read More
980 Words | 4 Pages

Reverend Parris had no intention of admitting witchcraft was performed in Salem until Reverend Hale arrived . When the doctor in Salem said that no natural cause was behind Betty’s illness, Reverend Parris said “There be no unnatural cause here. Tell him I have sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly, and Mr. Hale will surely confirm that,” which shows an ironic view of how hopeful Parris was that witchcraft was not in Salem (Miller,9). But when Reverend Hale arrive, he put the suggestion in quick-witted Abigail’s mind that witchcraft could be used as a scapegoat to get out of trouble. Hale prompted Abigail with questions such as “what sort of dancing were you doing with her in the forest?”

Read More
609 Words | 3 Pages

The witches are on the hunt for the innocent souls of Salem with Hale stating, “The Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points” (Miller 1251). Hale is determined to use God’s mighty hand against the “evil witches”. This shows that Hale is faithful to Abigail’s accusations against the common people of Salem. At first, Reverend Hale is eager to prosecute, but as more innocent people are condemned, his compliance turns into distaste. His dissatisfaction eventually turns into rage when Hale shouts, “I denounce these proceedings!”

Read More
525 Words | 3 Pages

To begin, when hale arrives in salem his books show how much he knows about witchcraft. As the play progress he starts to notice that the events in salem are not witchcraft. He notices that it is just people accusing other people they do not like. Next, Hale goes into salem confident it is witchcraft. When hale arrives in salem, he believes the girls and what they are saying about witchcraft and the people they are accusing.

Read More

More about How Does Arthur Miller Present Hale In The Crucible

Related Topics

Open Document