...through the Characterization of Reverend John Hale Throughout The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the characterization of an archetypal hero, Reverend John Hale, to reveal how when arrogant and nationalistic pride becomes involved even the most intelligent and moral man’s moral compass can be distorted. This universal truth and Hale’s archetypal characteristics were revealed by Miller to reprehend those who fell into McCarthyism and the flaws in the American society in the nineteen-fifties, which were impacts of their blinded morals. To comprehend the idea of this specific universal truth, one first must understand Hale’s characterization through Aristotle’s archetypal hero traits. The first criteria, Noble...
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...Reverend Hale Reverend Hale had one of the saddest stories in The Crucible. He went to help during the Salem witch trials with good intentions but ended up hurting more people than he could help. That is why Hale is directly relatable to the song “Starting Over”, by Macklemore. Both Hale and the song are sad and miserable. In The Crucible Hale was a sad, gullible, minister who did not know who was speaking the truth. The song itself is about a sad man who relapsed with his drinking problem. The song also has a mellow sound to it, to make it more miserable. One quote from the song that is relatable to Reverend Hale is “I’m just a flawed man”. Hale messed up a lot in The Crucible and he listened to all of the wrong people....
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...Throughout the play The Crucible, several characters undergo change but it is Reverend Hale that changes the most from the beginning to the end. Reverend Hale was summoned from Boston to evaluate Salem and diagnose any witchcraft present. Because of his eagerness to please the town of Salem he is manipulated into doing things that he thinks is right. Notably, Reverend Hale in the end manages to try to help the accused out of the trouble he got them into. In detail, upon arriving in Salem, Reverend Hale is very optimistic and ready for a challenge. In the following quote Hale shows his control over the current situation in Salem “Now let me instruct you. We cannot look to superstition in this. The devil is precise; the marks of his presence...
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...Miller’s The Crucible. Reverend Hale, a character in The Crucible, undergoes a dramatic and significant character development and change throughout the plot, which consists of being humbled because of new information and events, which changes him as a person to one who is more aware and logical. Reverend Hale’s personality changed and softened from the beginning to the end of the text. His initial mindset can be seen when he says his books are “weighted with authority” (Act I, Page 36). This metaphor implies he considers his books to be a symbol of education and, therefore, authority. With such a mindset, he likely is slightly arrogant and thinks of himself as a great religious leader. Later in the text, Hale says, “I come to do the Devil’s work. I come to counsel Christians they should belie themselves” (Act IV,...
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...evil will succeed. For example if someone was getting bullied and an onlooker decide to do nothing than evil would prosper. This quote id false because there in no way to know who is “good” and who is “bad” due to everyone having a different understanding of what is good and what is bad. Some people believe that those who don’t go to church are bad but in reality many people who don’t go to church have better morals than those who do go to church yet the fact they don’t makes them seem bad. Another way this quote is false is that if someone were truly “good” then they wouldn’t stand around and watch as evil prospered. One piece of literature that proves this quote true is The Crucible by Arthur Miller through his use of characterization and conflict. As stated above the quote “Evil Triumphs when good men do nothing” is false due to the elusive from in which “good men” is used. In The Crucible Arthur Millers’ use of characterization proves this quote false. The Crucible is a play about the domino affect which wild accusations about witchcraft caused in a small religious town known as Salem’s Village. In The Crucible Arthur Miller shows that people are ignorant and only care about their well being. Arthur Miller shows this through the characteristics of Parris, Abigail, Marry Warren, and the town’s people. The false accusations all started when Reverend Paris questions his niece, Abigail about dancing naked in the woods...
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...way lying is, wrong. Coming up with fiction when the truth needs to be told. John Proctor in The Crucible, is a farmer in a Puritan society. Proctor has a wife, Elizabeth, and three boys, but only two are baptized. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, John Proctor was a dishonest man by lying, being dishonest towards Reverend Hale, and betraying his family by being actively involved in adultery. John Proctor is a dishonorable man because he lies.This is an issue because his wife is becoming weary of him. In Act I, John Proctor was alone in a room with Abigail Williams. When Abigail asked how Proctor calls her a child, Proctor replies with, “...I may think of you softly from time to time” (Miller 146). This quote relates directly to Proctor; he states, to Elizabeth, that he does not think...
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...Coming up with fiction when the truth needs to be told. John Proctor in The Crucible, is a farmer in a Puritan society. Proctor has a wife, Elizabeth, and three boys, but only two are baptized. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, John Proctor was a dishonest man by lying, being dishonest towards Reverend Hale, and betraying his family by being actively involved in adultery. John Proctor is a dishonorable man because he lies.This is an issue because his wife is becoming weary of him. In Act I, John Proctor was alone in a room with Abigail Williams. When Abigail asked how Proctor calls her a child, Proctor replies with. This quote relates directly to Proctor; he states, to Elizabeth, that he does not think of Abigail in that way anymore. Proctor told two different people two different things in the time frame. In Act II Proctor says that he...
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...In the court system today, we abide by the words “Innocent until proven guilty”, but in 1692, in Salem Massachusetts it was completely different, they did not believe in the quote “Innocent until proven guilty”. If you were accused, then you must be guilty, that’s how it was in 1692 in Salem. In the book The Crucible, John Proctor is admitting to committing adultery. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Miller uses John Proctor to show how someone can stand up for what he or she believes in, and how society should uphold the idea of “Innocent until proven guilty”. John Proctor has decided to admit that he had committed adultery. John has kicked Abigail out of his and Elizabeth’s service. John says him and Elizabeth asked Abigail to leave, John says it is because what him and Abigail are doing. John starts going to the court, then he decided to admit to what he had done with Abigail. Why did John confess to committing adultery? Reverend Hale has came upon Salem, to join in the court. Hale has came to the Proctors home. Hale is asking them if they have anything to do with satan. John tells Hale “There is no love for Satan in this house, mister” (Miller Act II) Hale has John and recite the Ten Commandments, he...
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...As Arthur Miller once stated,“there is prodigious fear in seeking loose spirits.” The theme that the tragedy fiction play, The Crucible, displays is hysteria and desire leads to unconscious consequences. As conveyed throughout the play, hysteria is most clearly observed in the villagers' illogical acceptance of the girls’ claims of witchcraft. Specifically, Act III depicts the idea of mass hysteria devastating the community when the afflicted girls led by Abigail, accuse Mary Warren of witchcraft for testifying against them. Furthermore, several people including Mary Warren have indicated that the witchcraft accusations are false yet the court refuses to be persuaded. Arthur Miller’s play the Crucible was an exaggeration of the Salem witch...
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...In Arthur Miller’s book, The Crucible it provides realistic information about the Salem witch trials. Miller relates the Salem witch trails to the 1950’s issue of accusations of Communism in the United States. Within this book our understanding of the witch trials increases and we can relate the issues to problems world wide. In The Crucible many characters are hung for being a witch. There was not enough accurate evidence to say that there cases where fair. Current events can relate to this situation if there is a place where there are unfair and false accusations against innocent people. Parris the Reverend of Salem, is responsible for bring the witch trials to his town. This also affects his reputation in Salem, which he is very concerned about. The amount of power he has shifts over the course of the play along with the trust of the citizens of Salem. Throughout the book many people become frustrated with Parris which leads him to put fear in himself. Parris is now responsible for the tragedies in Salem because he brought the witch trials to Salem. Many people turn on him throughout the whole entire play. Parris’s reputation in the town of Salem and his position within the...
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...from The Crucible By looking at The Crucible by Arthur Miller, one can infer that the character, John Proctor, reveals the theme of reputation and integrity. These are important because refusing to lie to protect one’s reputation can stop hysteria from spreading. In The Crucible, John Proctor was more worried about his reputation for his family to live with than he was concerned with his own life. Basically, the idea of John Proctor protecting his reputation motivates him to deny that witchcraft exists in the village. Proctor had stated his worry by saying, “The town is mumbling witchcraft” (1.1.511-512). Proctor says this in reference to Reverend Hale walking through town with a stack of books for researching...
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...This quote explains how manipulative people can be very selfish and always blame others, and readers of The Crucible feel this way about Abigail Williams from the beginning. Arthur Miller influences the readers to think that Abigail is manipulative by using stage directions, quotes from other characters in the play, and quotes from Abigail. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses a variety of stage directions to formulate the opinion that Abigail in manipulative in the reader’s minds. For example, when Abigail is having her statements questioned for legitimacy, she shifts the court proceedings’ attention to Mary Warren by staring at Mary. Arthur Miller makes Abigail flawlessly throw the attention onto Mary when Miller narrates. The stage directions...
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...of suffering and pain, the importance of believing in oneself and staying true to one’s beliefs can make the difference between a small mistake, and a catastrophe. In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the people of Salem are going through a time of panic and hysteria, because anyone can be accused of witchery. Some use this to their advantage, and accuse people for revenge, greed, or fame; others attempt to cease the madness and bring the truth about the Salem witch trials, and how they are false; some even wanted no part in what was happening around them. As portrayed in The Crucible, the Salem witch Trials forcefully involved innocent people, like Rebecca Nurse, who wanted to have nothing to do with the...
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...The Crucible One of the pieces of literature that I have truly enjoyed was the social commentary by Arthur Miller, The Crucible. Miller wrote the play in the early 50’s as a way to prove that the Second Red Scare, started by Senator Joseph McCarthy, was as barbaric and inhumane as the Salem Witch Trials, dating two and a half centuries back. During the 1950’s many people were wrongly accused of being traitors, and at the same time Communist, and thus were being blacklisted, jailed and deported. The term McCarthyism arose from that time period and is used describe the entire anti-communism philosophy in the United States. Miller cleverly compares the McCarthyism movement to the anti-witchcraft belief in the 1690’s, citing inhumane methods used to oust the ongoing hysteria. The four main characters in the play, John Proctor, Abigail Adams, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris, are caught in the middle of the witchcraft panic in the pious Salem, Massachusetts in late 1690’s. John Proctor, being a regular farmer lives a simple life, with his quiet wife Elizabeth. However, he has an affair with the young and vindictive Abigail. Reverend Parris is Abigail's uncle, somewhat odd and many townspeople dislike him. Reverend Hale is a younger minister and witchcraft “expert” with good intentions and pure soul. He was the first one to understand how dangerous the hysteria has become. After Parris discovers his daughter, Betty, inert and lifeless in her bed, he calls for Reverend Hale...
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...John Proctor’s Outstanding Personality The Crucible was a play in 1962 about the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts. The trials began after girls started accusing many people of witchcraft. John Proctor and Abigail Williams which is the leader of the girls had an affair. Abigail wanted John’s wife dead so she could be with him, and she would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. John Proctor's honest, selfless, and vulnerable ways are revealed in The Crucible. John Proctor is an honest man. For example in the book Proctor states “Mr. Parris discovered them sportin’ in the woods. They were startled and took sick” (Miller 33). John is honest in this quote by telling Reverend Hale about the girls being in the woods doing witchcraft, he was...
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