To usher in the introduction of Reverend Hale to the chaos soon to ensue, Arthur Miller outlines his predisposition to the matter at hand, as he claims Reverend Hale ¨feels himself allied with the best minds of Europe—kings, philosophers, scientists, and ecclesiasts of all churches¨ (36) . Furthermore, Hale has been waiting for a chance like this to exercise his powers; as Miller notes ¨he knows the exaltation of the blessed whose intelligence, sharpened by the minute examinations of enormous tracts, is finally called upon to face what may be a bloody fight with the Fiend himself¨ (36) . It seems then that Hale´s goal is to save the inflicted town. However, as the plot should have it, Hale has a change in his sentiment towards the events in
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He is poised to exercise his religious powers, but to do so he must first assert himself as the expert and truncate all others in metaphorical sense as students. For instance, when questioned by Mr. Parris about what book he held, Hale proudly replied, ¨Here is all the invisible world, caught, defined, and calculated¨ (36). Also on that same page, ¨Here are all your familiar spirits—your incubi and succubi...¨. Who amongst him would know such terms like incubi and succubi? Also in the first quotation, he uses words that espouse definite knowledge on the subject matter: ¨caught¨, ¨defined¨, and ¨calculated¨. The common agrarian folk around him, save Mr. Parris, are compelled to believe what he says because of the definitive tone he uses and the specialized lexicon he speaks of. He, in turn, has elevated his stance of credibility by taking advantage of the knowledge barrier in between …show more content…
Seeing that, Danforth condemns Proctor and Rebecca to death. Hale must use one more shrewd utterance to persuade Elizabeth. He exclaims to her, ¨Be His helper!—What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth? Go to him, take his shame away!¨ (145). These questions serve to produce more of an effect, than an answer. So we can be tempted to apply the device of rhetorical questioning. However, if one were to think of theoretically answering these questions, one will see that they can be logically answered in this situation. Take the question,¨Shall the worms declare his truth?¨ for example. If Proctor dies is that really going to prove to everyone else that he was innocent? Whether he falsely confesses and lives, or doesn´t confess and dies, the truth will never make it to the surface; he must then choose the lesser of two evils and confess. And we must remember, Proctor 's confession is Hale´s goal at this
He is poised to exercise his religious powers, but to do so he must first assert himself as the expert and truncate all others in metaphorical sense as students. For instance, when questioned by Mr. Parris about what book he held, Hale proudly replied, ¨Here is all the invisible world, caught, defined, and calculated¨ (36). Also on that same page, ¨Here are all your familiar spirits—your incubi and succubi...¨. Who amongst him would know such terms like incubi and succubi? Also in the first quotation, he uses words that espouse definite knowledge on the subject matter: ¨caught¨, ¨defined¨, and ¨calculated¨. The common agrarian folk around him, save Mr. Parris, are compelled to believe what he says because of the definitive tone he uses and the specialized lexicon he speaks of. He, in turn, has elevated his stance of credibility by taking advantage of the knowledge barrier in between …show more content…
Seeing that, Danforth condemns Proctor and Rebecca to death. Hale must use one more shrewd utterance to persuade Elizabeth. He exclaims to her, ¨Be His helper!—What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth? Go to him, take his shame away!¨ (145). These questions serve to produce more of an effect, than an answer. So we can be tempted to apply the device of rhetorical questioning. However, if one were to think of theoretically answering these questions, one will see that they can be logically answered in this situation. Take the question,¨Shall the worms declare his truth?¨ for example. If Proctor dies is that really going to prove to everyone else that he was innocent? Whether he falsely confesses and lives, or doesn´t confess and dies, the truth will never make it to the surface; he must then choose the lesser of two evils and confess. And we must remember, Proctor 's confession is Hale´s goal at this