In Arthur Miller’s The Crucble, accusations of witchcraft ignite mass hysteria in the seventeenth-century town of Salem, Massachusetts. Presided over by Judge Danforth, the court of Salem plays a crucial role in arresting, convicting, and condemning to death the victims of the witch trials, all on the “evidence” provided by a group of young girls. Several notable people in the town are hung on accounts of witchcraft, including one of the main characters, John Proctor. These grave events precipitated from the inauspicious ones of the play’s opening, in which Reverend John Hale arrives in the town to investigate the possibility of witchcraft. Hale is introduced as a self-assured man of God, confident in his faith and ability; he has the intelligence and competency to be. At the start of the play, he also has much faith in his fellow man, specifically those who run the judicial courts.
As Hale witnesses firsthand the actions of the court and their consequent impacts, he becomes disenchanted with the court and with his own participation in its proceedings, In Act One, Reverend Hale is called upon for his expertise on the subject of witchcraft, which Reverend Parris feels might be afflicting his daughter Betty. Hale enters Betty’s room, in which her father and several others have congregated around her motionless body, and the stage directions describe his character traits and motivations: “His goal is light, goodness and its preservation, and he knows the exaltation of the blessed whose intelligence, sharpened by minute examinations of enormous tracts, is finally called upon to face what may be a bloody fight with the Fiend himself”.
Hale possesses wholeheartedly righteous intentions, prepared even to face down the Devil (“the Fiend himself”) if he be the root of the problem here. He is eager to apply his acquired knowledge on the subject and perhaps even be recognized for his specialized aid. This eagerness coupled with his good intentions make Hale naive at the start of the play. He believes all those around him are inherently noble, just as he is, and his readiness to employ his facilities blinds him to the faultiness of this assumption. In Act Two of the play (after the witch trials have commenced), Hale comes to John and Elizabeth Proctor to inform them of the mention of Elizabeth’s name in court. Before Hale is about to leave, John reveals that Abigail, the leader of the group of accusing girls, confided in him that there was no witchcraft in Salem. This raises serious questions about the validity of the confessions obtained by the court, and Hale realizes this.
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“Hale: Nonsense! Mister, I have myself examined Tituba, Sarah Good, and numerous others that have confessed to dealing with the Devil. They have confessed it. Proctor: And why not, if they must hang for denyin’ it?… Have you never thought of that? Hale: I have. 1—1 have indeed”. In this conversation Hale is forced to contemplate a suspicion that he himself has: Are people “confessing” lies in order to avoid being hanged? He doesn’t want to concede that the coun is in the wrong, yet he also doesn’t wish to condemn innocent people to death. At this point in the story, Hale’s faith in the court is tested, and it will ultimately fail in the face of his significant doubt. In the final act, Act 4, it is clear that Hale no longer has the idealized view of the court which he had once before.
By this time, several people have already been hanged on the court’s decree, and many more in prison are scheduled to hang unless they confess to their crimes. Hale is wrought with guilt, for he now clearly sees that innocent people are being murdered. He exclaims to Judge Danforth, “There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head”! Hale feels some responsibility for the deaths that have occurred thus far because he did not try intervene sooner. His initial na‘t‘vete’ and obstinate faith in his fellow man prevented him from doing so. But now his eyes are open, and he sees the court for what it is: corrupt, unreasonable, and merciless.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Reverend Hale experiences stages of character development throughout the play He starts off as confident and naive, with full trust in the overall goodness of mankind, the members of the court being no exception. As more and more people are accused and condemned to death with little to no evidence, Hale’s faith is shaken, At the end of the play, we see a disillusioned and cynical Hale, who has come to the realization that Salem’s court is not the noble ideal he had envisioned The play ends with a Hale that is radically altered by its events. No longer the optimistic and self-assured young minister, Hale is now more realistic and practical in his outlook.
