Crucible – Hale Essay, Research Paper

Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in response to a period in American history when there was widespread fear of communism. It is set in the sixteen nineties, during the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Salem was governed as a Theocracy, rule by God or a priestly order. In this time many innocent people were tried and hanged for witchcraft. A crucible is a severe trial. In the play the whole community had been thrown into pandemonium, but a few characters are also fighting internal conflicts and trials of their own. Rev. John Hale is one of these characters. He battles with himself whether to carry out his job and his beliefs or do what he knows is right. As the play develops his moral transition can be followed and his role in the play is evident.

Hale has more than one function in The Crucible. Initially he acts as the expert who puts facts behind the girls accusations. He fuels the hysteria when he refers to the stricken Betty by saying, If she is in the Devils grip we may have to rip and tear to get her free (p39). This statement fills the community with fear; enough to make them blindly follow anything to save their children. At the end of the play Hale acts as an indicator of the strength of the human heart by going against all that he held dear; thus promoting one of Miller s themes in the play – beliefs.

In the first Act, Miller presents Hale as a righteous man, certain of his task. This can be seen in his statement, Have no fear now-we shall find him out if he has come among us, and I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face! (p39). What unfolds in the trials changes him dramatically, and this can be seen in its fullest when compared with his character at the end of the play. Here he is seen to have a heavy conscience and is striven with desperation at saving innocent people s lives. This is easily viewed when he says, I come of my own, Goody Proctor. I would save your husband s life, for if he is taken I count myself his murderer. (p131).

In the first Act, Hale is sure about his beliefs and feels he is carrying out the desires of God. When Hale arrives he is righteous and certain of his task. With him he brings the pride of a specialist . He has been summoned to ascertain witchcraft and by the end of Act 1, he has made up his mind as to its presence in the village seen when he shouts, Let the marshal bring irons! (p48). After this Act Hale begins his transition.

Fear fills the community in Act 2, which feeds the girls strength, and hysteria prevails while Hale has been kept busy with his witch hunting. The beginning of his transition is first clear when he is shown visiting the house of the Proctors (and others) on his own accord when he states, I come of my own, without the court s authority. (p63). This is shown best as he begins his statements with, I have- (p66) throughout this Act. He still holds his beliefs and duty tight but has begun to question. His doubts arise from the type of people being accused, and when Rebecca Nurse is arrested this stirs his thoughts further. This drives him to a fever of guilt and uncertainty (p78), and his final speech for the chapter is obviously a desperate attempt to justify the events and clarify things in his own head when he declares, I cannot think God be provoked so grandly by such a petty cause (p79).

In Act 3, Hale gains insight into the truth behind the accusations. He sees the fear in the community, a community with no toleration for individuality. He has reached the final stage of his transition, where he goes over the tip of his curve of change. His inner struggle is at its greatest now, when he must decide whether to do his job and obey the court or follow his heart and stop the murder of innocents. It can be seen that he supports and stands beside Proctor (and the other wrongly accused) when he states By my oath to Heaven, I believe him now, and I pray you call back his wife (p114). He has gained the conscience of one involved in the tragedy, not one of a prosecutor sure of his knowledge. His immense guilt now drives him, which is obvious when he declares, I have this morning signed away the soul of Rebecca Nurse (p99-100). Hale sees the power that the girls wield and the ignorance of the court. He realises he is powerless to stop it, but tries, acting directly against the court, and by the end of the Act he denounces the proceedings and quits the court, hoping without his authority, the deaths may stop.

In Act 4 he can be seen in the final stage of his transition. He enters, Steeped in sorrow, exhausted, and more direct than he ever was (p129). His actions in this Act are of one trying to stop the death of the innocent people. He sees blood on his hands and begs with the other characters to go against the stringent beliefs of their Theocracy when he pleads, God damns a liar less than he throws his life away for pride. (p132). Hale, repenting his own sins by trying to gain confessions from the accused to save their lives, says, I come to do the Devil s work. I come to counsel Christian they should belie themselves. (p131). He decides in his heart – not something he learnt from studying or something he believed in for years – that earthly life is more valuable than pride.

Everybody in their life is faced with inner struggles. Some, like Hale, must make a choice based on what they think is right and true. For Hale, it was the most important time of his life and whether right or wrong he chose what he thought was the right decision in his heart. Miller has effectively used his knowledge of the middle class and the ordinary person to show everyday heroes in this novel. He also effectively showed the transition a person can go through when confronted with the truth. This may contrast with their beliefs as seen in Hale s final speech in the play, Woman! It is pride, it is vanity What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him (p145).