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The Crucible Reverend Hale Character Analysis

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The definition of morality is the principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad (Webster 1). In stories, characters have varied moralities like; John Proctor and Judge Danforth, Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams, and Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the characters to show how one's morality can be skewed because of the pressure and influence of society.
John Proctor and Judge Danforth exemplify the difference of innocence in morality. Proctor is a well-liked man who has a distinct personality for himself (C. Lacovetti 1). He is the protagonist whom makes a mistake before the play begins. At the end of the play, Proctor confesses his sins and mends his marriage. On the other hand, Danforth is honest in his own mind and questions Proctor about his actions. Danforth is a judge during the Salem Witch trials and only …show more content…

Hale is a critical, Christian thinker who questions himself on what is right and wrong. He is a person who wants to know and find the truth with evidence. Hale wants to find the truths in the accusations, differently than Parris. In contrast, Parris is the minister of Salem's church who is paranoid about his name in the village. All Parris wants from the trials is land from people who get hanged, instead of the truth behind it all. He is most worried that he will be destroyed because witchcraft is in his family. Luke 6:27-28 says, "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you," (Barker 1550). This is a perfect example of how Hale treated the people of Salem, and the exact opposite of how Parris treated the. Knowing this, it is obvious that Hale for the people in knowing the truth of morality; where as, Parris does not care about the truth but just wants what is best for

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When he arrives in Salem, Parris mentions how heavy Hale’s books were. Hale says, “ They must be; they are weighted with authority” (Act I page 34). Reverend Hale eventually becomes part of the court not too long after he arrives. He was responsible for helping with finding the witches in Salem.

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Hale starts to realize they accused Rebecca the Nurse one of the most godliest people in Salem and then comes to grasp that they are accusing faultless people. So at the moment, Hale wants to stop the witches and accomplish what he came to Salem

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When Reverend Hale first enters the story he is depicted as someone with great knowledge and authority. Proctor tells Hale on page 185, “I’ve heard you were a sensible man, Mister Hale - I hope you’ll leave some of it in Salem.” Hale is well known to people around Salem and he is known for possessing great knowledge. The people will listen to what Hale has to say, but know that his presence means that there is suspicion of witchcraft.

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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

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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.

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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

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693 Words | 3 Pages

Reverend Hale looks at his job much differently. He no longer takes pride in his line of work, but now is more ashamed and it is clear that he is. He even tells Goody Proctor to “Cleave to no faith when faith brings blood” (Miller 234). He recognizes that he came with a wrong reason, but now he believes that his duty is to make right what has gone wrong in Salem. He realizes that survival is most important above all else and that it is human nature for people to do whatever it takes to survive, and that he was blinded by the literal meaning of the bible.

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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

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1198 Words | 5 Pages

In The Crucible, John Proctor the protagonist, becomes a victim of the witch trials when his wife Elizabeth, is accused of witchcraft. In order to free his wife, Proctor must convince Judge Danforth of his wife’s innocence. Judge Danforth does not sign condemnations lightly and takes meticulous inspection of his cases to determine the guilty party. He is also a highly religious man who takes matters between God and men seriously. It is because of Danforth’s dedication to the law and God that Proctor utilizes ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade him.

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865 Words | 4 Pages

Hale no longer believes in the witch trials. Everything Reverend Hale came to Salem for now no longer means anything to him. By this point Reverend Hale, among others, has become fed up with the pretense and falseness of ‘The Salem Witch Trials’ and wants nothing more than for it to be over. (page 84, act four, Miller, Arthur The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts, Viking Press 1953) “ HALE, quickly to Danforth: Excellency, it is enough he confess himself. Let him sign it, let him sign it.”

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1097 Words | 5 Pages

When Reverend Hale was first introduced into the play, it was that Reverend Parris had asked Hale to come down and assist in the pursuit of the evil that was devouring their small town whole. Hale was cautious at first in accepting situations that people believe have witchery involved. Considering he is recognized for his authority on witchcraft and the devil, Hale initially comes off as arrogant and authoritative. Although Hale never accused anyone of witchcraft, he just asked questions about it, he is more than ready to investigate and rid Salem of any demonic influences. In Act I, Hale arrives with his heavy books of authority.

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560 Words | 3 Pages

In act 1 and 2 in the play ,The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the character Reverend Hale was introduced and learned what his role was. Reverend Hale was a man nearing his forties and was a high-status intellectual who was an expert in witchcraft (Miller 155). In this act Hale said that he believes there always will be someone with the devil(Miller 155). Hale was siding with the court in this act and signing death warrants along with believing in these accusations fully as shown in his visit to the Proctors when he said there is too much evidence to deny the Devil is in Salem (Miller 171). Also, Hale almost played as an interrogator when he was giving rapid fire questions to John about his Christian character and if he goes to church in his visit to the Proctor house (Miller 171).

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674 Words | 3 Pages

Reverend Parris is the first person to request Hale’s knowledge, asking him to investigate his daughter Betty. Hale is delighted to help but clearly states “I shall not proceed unless you are prepared to believe me if I should find no bruise of hell upon her” (Miller 1146), strengthening his true purpose, finding the truth. In addition, Hale states “The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone”(Miller 1146) ensuring he does not want to assume witchcraft where it is not present. He is thorough in his work; careful not to make any harmful mistakes. As the play progresses, Hale becomes more of a hero to the townspeople and his ego only grows with

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798 Words | 4 Pages

¨Hale, continuing to Elizabeth: Let you not mistake your duty as I mistook my own. I came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion; the very crowns of holy law I brought, and what I touched with my bright confidence, it died; and where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up.¨. Hale recognizes the way he had first acted when he was introduced in the play he had false confidence, was falsely assertive, a title of the best witch hunter in that region meant nothing and being a reverend, he had failed miserably to bring justice to the town of Salem. Along with being a failure he has realized that those that he had convicted were innocent and the girls that had played the system were the actual ones guilty and had escaped their well deserved punishment. The whole point of Hale being the tragic hero was that Hale would have been able to prevent all of these things onto the town but having a title does not mean you are qualified for the

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525 Words | 3 Pages

To begin, When reverend hale went to salem he was very confident. Reverend Hale, knew a lot about witches and spirits. Hale took witchcraft very seriously, he believed there was actually something going on in salem. Next, Hale is determined to get to the bottom of what is going on. When hale gets to salem, he is very tired and has very little motivation.

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