Reverend John Hale is a middle-aged man who counteracts the work of the Devil. In The Crucible, Mr. Hale is sent to the town of Salem to inspect the various suspicions of witchcraft. It seems as if the people of Salem that in which Mr. Hale directly informs are very afraid and fearful of what they consider to be supernatural events occurring. As such times of unrest continue to grow in The Crucible, Reverend Hale can be seen differently by the characters in Salem as compared to the audience. People like Reverend Parris, Abigail Williams, and the Putnams would see Mr. Hale as an honorable and virtuous man of God. However, the audience reading The Crucible would see Hale as a non-genuine man who built a personality that cannot be discredited
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There are numerous accounts in Act I of The Crucible in which Reverend Hale is no man of original and well thought theory the audience sees it quite often. For instance, Putnam acknowledges that “She cannot eat.” in regards to her child not eating and Mr. Hale responds by saying, “Cannot eat! Do you men have afflicted children” (Miller 1255). Obviously, Hale takes somewhat peculiar information from the people of Salem to just express ignorant astonishment that only feeds into the worries of the people of Salem. In other words, Reverend Hale does not produce any new thoughts on the subject of witchcraft and only affirms that what the people of Salem have vaguely experienced. At this point, there happens to be another man who asks the supposed expert, Mr. Hale, about how her daughter tried to fly by asking, “Will you look at my daughter, sir? She has tried to leap out the window; we discovered her this morning on the highroad, waving her arms as though she’d fly”. In response, Hale merely gives a curious look towards the girl and says, “Tries to fly” (Miller 1256). Again, no one in the audience sees Reverend Hale actually doing anything to help the cause of the suggested ailment by the Devil. Instead, Hale just reiterates what is already known to just continue to establish his credibility. The reader continues to see Reverend Hale’s repetitive actions like when Parris tells Hale “Why, sir- I discovered her- and my niece and ten or twelve of the other girls, dancing in the forest last night.” while Hale responds very surprised, “You permit dancing” (Miller 1256). Almost every part of every conversation Reverend Hale has with anyone he is talking to is just him blindly repeating what others are telling him. In the end, it really gets to be aggravating to just listen to Mr. Hale talk about serious matters in such an ignorant way. Thus, it supports the fact that it was
There are numerous accounts in Act I of The Crucible in which Reverend Hale is no man of original and well thought theory the audience sees it quite often. For instance, Putnam acknowledges that “She cannot eat.” in regards to her child not eating and Mr. Hale responds by saying, “Cannot eat! Do you men have afflicted children” (Miller 1255). Obviously, Hale takes somewhat peculiar information from the people of Salem to just express ignorant astonishment that only feeds into the worries of the people of Salem. In other words, Reverend Hale does not produce any new thoughts on the subject of witchcraft and only affirms that what the people of Salem have vaguely experienced. At this point, there happens to be another man who asks the supposed expert, Mr. Hale, about how her daughter tried to fly by asking, “Will you look at my daughter, sir? She has tried to leap out the window; we discovered her this morning on the highroad, waving her arms as though she’d fly”. In response, Hale merely gives a curious look towards the girl and says, “Tries to fly” (Miller 1256). Again, no one in the audience sees Reverend Hale actually doing anything to help the cause of the suggested ailment by the Devil. Instead, Hale just reiterates what is already known to just continue to establish his credibility. The reader continues to see Reverend Hale’s repetitive actions like when Parris tells Hale “Why, sir- I discovered her- and my niece and ten or twelve of the other girls, dancing in the forest last night.” while Hale responds very surprised, “You permit dancing” (Miller 1256). Almost every part of every conversation Reverend Hale has with anyone he is talking to is just him blindly repeating what others are telling him. In the end, it really gets to be aggravating to just listen to Mr. Hale talk about serious matters in such an ignorant way. Thus, it supports the fact that it was