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What Role Does Reverend Hale Play In The Crucible

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The Crucible is a play about the Salem Witch Trials, which pretty much killed people on the belief that they were using “dark magic.” Spooky am I right. Back to the topic, the Salem Witch Trials dates back to the 1690s. The Salem Witch Trials was pretty much a way for people to either gain revenge or land by accusing the person of witchcraft. Instantly, placed under arrest and sent to a trial that would automatically result in hanging or a punishment. Anyways in the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller Reverend, Hale starts with the confident belief that the church is always right, but towards the end of the play, Hale begins to become doubtful of the church’s beliefs. At the beginning of the play, Reverend Hale starts with the confident belief that the church is the one and only authority that matters. In Act 1, Reverend Hale just arrived in Salem. When Hale meets Parris he commands Parris to take his books which are weighted with “authority.” The authority he mentions is from the reference of the church. Hale acknowledges to Parris, “They must …show more content…

Reverend Hale’s confidence in the church has eroded to a doubtfulness in the sense of the church’s trueness and jurisdiction. This occurs in Act 4 when Hale believes that John Proctor is not a wizard due to past encounters, but he is still due to hang even through all the evidence that Hale has given the judge, Danforth. Hale pleads with Elizabeth Proctor, “Woman plead with him! What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth?" (Miller 145). The quote recognizes his last attempt at trying to repay for his many sins. Furthermore Hale started as the all-knowing “spiritual doctor” of the church, but towards the conclusion of the play, Hale doesn’t even know if what he is believing in is true to the word of

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292 Words | 2 Pages

Hale went to the Proctor’s house to interrogate them without the court knowing. He wanted to know about their belief in witches and to question their religious ways. This showed him beginning to change due to his confidence wearing away. We now see Hale doubting the strength of his own conclusions. Once John Proctor got arrested,

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589 Words | 3 Pages

In the beginning Reverend Hale is very set to his ways. He supports the court and won’t listen to any other reasoning besides theirs. He is determined to believe that his mindset is what is right and anything other than that is wrong. In Act 1, on page 1149, when Parris is telling Hale about the girls in the woods, Parris says something about how

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705 Words | 3 Pages

When Hale entered the story he believed that he was going to be the savior of the town ridding them of witches. When Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor were arrested Reverend Hale was deeply shaken with his beliefs. Hale near the end of the story he tells Elizabeth that you should not have religion when it brings you harm but you should keep faith in God. Reverend Hale near ending of The Crucible is the complete opposite of the Reverend Hale that first entered the story, because he came in believing he was the authority on how to find witches, then he was shaken by arrest of Rebecca and John, and finally by him telling others to throw away religion when it brings harm to

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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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582 Words | 3 Pages

However, as he discovers more about the accused themselves, Hale begins to doubt his initial judgment, and questions the competency of the court in honestly assessing the witch trials. Yet, in fear of choosing a side, Hale becomes tactfully neutral and desperate for the truth, as he advocates for “proof so immaculate” that the verdict would be just and indelible (188). His logical and analytical nature lends him towards Proctor’s argument, but he is compelled to stay firm with the law, especially as Danforth and Parris challenge his loyalty throughout the case. During the trials, the Reverend experiences a foreboding guilt for the first time, as he recognizes his culpability in the lives that he may have incorrectly denounced. Although he has the power to defend his conscience, his religious duty and responsibilities towards the court

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469 Words | 2 Pages

He said, "I dare not take a life without there be a proof no immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it" (Miller 188). He did not want anyone to hang for a crime they did not commit, and he did not want any guilty conscience of it afterward. He started to realize that people are accusing others for their own gain, and when no one would listen, Hale quit the court. In Act 4, Hale tries to save people's lives by convincing them to confess. He doubts his own Puritan faith and pursues the falsely accused on his own.

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1033 Words | 5 Pages

As he is busy accusing other people of their superstitions, Hale tried to keep his wits about him, “Have no fear now-we shall find him out if he has come among us”(43). This shows the reader and the other characters that Hale is very confident in his job and that he is not willing to give it up for anything. Hale seems to be very arrogant as he goes about his work in the beginning of the text. “We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise..”

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405 Words | 2 Pages

Towards the end, Hale changes from a person who carries his heavy written laws to a person who hates the court. During Act III, after Danforth arrested Proctor, Hale is so angry with the court that he yells, "I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!” (Act 3, 120). The quote might seem really simple, but it is significant because Hale finally figures out that the court system is a failure to the society, and also figures out what he should be go after. As a result in Act 4 when Hale tries to convince Elizabeth to tell Proctor to confess, Hale says, “‘Beware, Goody Proctor –cleave to no faith when faith brings blood.

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533 Words | 3 Pages

Hale acknowledges human’s mortality more so than Danforth who believes his word is the final say. Furthermore, Judge Danforth appears to only be concerned with having those who were jailed, confess to being witches whether they were or not. All those who do not confess to conspiring with the devil in his eyes are evil and those “who weep for [them, therefore] weep for corruption” (134). In contrast, Hale is desperate to save the innocent from their inevitable doom because he believes “life is God’s most precious gift” and “no principle [] may justify taking it” (122). He even encourages Elizabeth Proctor to “prevail upon [her] husband to confess” because “God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride” (122).

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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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589 Words | 3 Pages

However, in the middle of act three he begins to experience a change. After hearing the conversation between Mary Warren and Proctor, he realizes that lies were being told to the court. Unfortunately, the mistakes may not be undone and the innocent has to suffer. Hale does have faith that the innocent will be able to get through this with the help of God, but it is evident that he is slowly losing faith. He knows that if the court were to find out that this was all just a bunch of lies and that the accused were not the ones at fault they would still precede with the hangings.

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1352 Words | 6 Pages

He does this by showing the lack of common sense that some use when influenced by a group. The main character who does this fluctuation in his thinking and ideology is Hale. Throughout the play he changes in three important ways: he changes from a haughty clergyman into a humble common man, he goes from accusing people and suspecting them, to trying to save them, and Hale in the play at the beginning believes that man is morally good, but by the end he realizes that all are hopelessly sinful by

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241 Words | 1 Pages

Those very choices mean life and death for those individuals. In Arthur Miller’s drama, The Crucible, character Reverend Hale is that authority figure. Hale, the spiritual doctor, faces a choice between faith and his belief in an individual which illuminates Miller’s idea that society realizes inconsistencies way too

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560 Words | 3 Pages

In the beginning acts, Hale was trusting the court more than John and was a big part of handling warrants of the accused individuals along with having much confidence in himself, his knowledge of witchcraft, and knowledge of witches in Salem. In Act 2 and 3 in the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the character Reverend Hale was changing a lot. Throughout the first act of this play Reverend Hale had much of his trust in the court and fully believed the devil is in Salem but as the trial begins and goes on things start to change when Hale starts to question the court shown when he pleads

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525 Words | 3 Pages

As the play progress and people confess he starts to notice that what people are saying and accusing people of is not true but just getting to people they do not like. Lastly, At the end of act 3, Hale quits the court. Hale quit the court because he knew that a lot of innocent people were getting killed for not confessing to a crime they did not

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