...The Transformation of Farmer John Proctor The characters inside of “The Crucible” live in the corrupt town of Salem. Suspicion of evil witchcraft activity between little girls turns into a controversy that will forever split the town. People are falsely blamed for a variety of reasons by an assortment of lying girls and sentenced to death by delusional judges of the court. These occurrences cause severe change in the main characters of the play; John Proctor, for example, undergoes major changes in behavior and attitude during the course of the play. Once his wife and family are involved, the trials become more than just silly happenings to Proctor. Towards the beginning of “The Crucible” Proctor’s actions were substantially influenced by how personal the cases in court became to him. When the trials began to spread to people who the Proctors’ care about Elizabeth wants John to go to court to tell how Abigail and the girls were lying. Afraid of Abigail telling on the affair, John Proctor is very hesitant to go to Salem. After Elizabeth tells John to hurry up and decide whether he is going into town, “I have good reason to think before I charge fraud upon Abigail…” (Miller, 194). Proctor decides that trying to save Rebecca Nurse and the others will only lead to Abigail ruining his name. Proctor, after being left amuck at the whole situation, leaves his anger out on Mary Warren. These decisions Proctor made will have resurgence later in “The Crucible”. John Proctor makes...
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...Thematic Questions 1. What is a crucible and how is it used? Justify Miller’s choice of title for his play. A crucible is a ceramic container that can withstand very high temperature and is used for metal, glass and pigment production as well as a number of modern laboratory processes. Miller’s choice of the title “The Crucible” is due to the same reason as the courtroom being referred to as a crucible: using the heat of questioning and scrutiny, they burned away all the impurities, i.e. lies and half-truths, to get the purified product the “truth”. 2. How do Hale’s preconceptions influence his interpretation of events? How does his interpretation change? What are the implications of his conversion? Hale’s preconceptions has influenced his interpretation of events in that he initially thought that he had the authority over the town due to his extensive knowledge of witchcraft. He expected to find witches, however his interpretation changes throughout the play as he realises that innocent townspeople are being falsely accused, such as John Proctor. The implications of his conversion are when he encourages the accused to confess, i.e. the good people to lie, even though he believes that he is doing the “Devil’s work”. 3. Proctor calls Hale “Pontius Pilate.” Explain the allusion. Do you agree or disagree? The allusion is that Pontius Pilate was the ruler in Bethlehem who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at the order of the Jewish leadership, despite the...
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...Change happens in a person when they meet someone or experience something that alters their way of thinking, acting, and reacting to situations. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the town of Salem and many of its residents go through a major transformation after the idea of witchcraft is introduced. One character, Reverend John Hale, a visitor from Beverley and a known expert on witchery, undergoes a major character transformation throughout the play. Hale goes from believing in witchcraft and wanting to stop any witches in Salem, to doubting the court, and finally ending with an unshakeable guilt, knowing he is the reason innocent people are being hung for things they did not do. In Act I of the play, Hale is called to Salem to assess Betty Parris' condition. He is confident that the Devil is present, and he will "crush him utterly if he has shown...
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...------------------------------------------------- Character Progression and Development of Reverend John Hale in The Crucible The character of Reverend Hale, in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, experiences a profound, dramatic and transformative personal evolution from when he comes to Salem in Act One through the climax in the third act. In the final act, in this progression, his identity by profession is challenged when he is confronted with the realization of an unjust, immoral community, and he responds with integrity and moral truth by abandoning his assigned mission of “witch hunter” in order to truly save others. When Reverend Hale first comes onto the scene, he is a pious and revered minister who was summoned by Reverend Parris because of his expertise on uncovering witchcraft. Reverend Hale presents as a strict and dedicated professional; he is confident, even arrogant as to his education, knowledge and, his authoritative role as expert, and falls back upon the fact that Salem needs him to resolve the unrest and chaos in the community. The hysteria in Salem is clearly exacerbated by Hale’s investigation; but initially, Hale is fueled by his charge to rid Salem of witchcraft and his self-assurance in that role, Hale finds himself, in the end, questioning his own integrity and his moral beliefs when he realizes that the witchcraft accusations were false. He has to battle his own internal guilt and regret for the needless suffering of other accused and persecuted which...
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