- “If the devil is in her you will witness some frightful wonders in this room.” - (p34)
- “Did you feel any strangeness when she called him? A sudden cold wind perhaps?” - (p35)
- The hysteria between Rev.Hale and Tituba when she is accused of ‘dealing with the Devil’(p37)
- “Mr.Putnam, stand close in case she flies!” – (p34)
Later on in the play there is evidence that the girls have used what Rev.Hale has said, against the people that they have accused. Betty tries to run out of the window not long after she heard Hales comment to Mr. Putnam. Doing this would prove she had been witched. Abigail used the ‘cold wind’ as evidence in court. The girls would claim that they felt a ‘cold wind’ upon them when the person they accused denied that they had anything to do with the devil. Nobody questioned what they felt or saw because this had been proved by Rev. Hales books and words. When Tituba was questioned and whipped over her suspected allegiance with the Devil, Abigail was present again and watched the happenings. She saw how Tituba confessed and was forgiven, but when she was asked whether anyone accompanied her, Abigail took advantage of this and started the naming spree. The rest of the girls joined in on this. It seems like Hale subconsciously helped these girls, giving them ideas for use in court against anyone they condemned.
By Act 2, Elizabeth Proctor has been suspected of witchcraft. Hale was sent by the court to see if it was true. At first, Hale seems to stick by his supernatural beliefs against John Proctors claim that Betty’s illness and the trouble stirred from the girls has nothing to do with witchcraft.
Proctor: I have no witness and cannot prove it, except my word be taken. But I know the childrens sickness had naught to do with witchcraft.
Rev.Hale: (stopped struck) Naught to do-?
Proctor: Mr Parris discovered them sporting in the woods. They were startled and took sick.
(p56)
From this point onwards, Hale changes his view and starts to look at the more practical side of the happenings. Rev. Hale seems to trust John Proctor as a decent Christian man (even though his children were not baptised), and Elizabeth as his loving housewife. He has no reason not to believe what Proctor says about the dancing. But what is also held in Hales mind is John Proctors affair with Abigail. He knows about them after John’s desperate attempts to stop his wife from being taken away. “The world goes mad, and it profit nothing you should lay the cause of the vengeance of a little girl.” –(p64)
Hale is referring to Abigail as the little girl. The people of Salem are either being arrested or suspected of witchcraft, and the girls are accusing anybody they don’t like. I think when Hale said this he knew in the back of his mind that Proctor was right. The world around them had gone mad, and Hale was probably starting to think of a more practical reason behind the happenings.
In Act 3, people are being brought into the court. Giles Corey is one of them. He has come to save his wife from hanging. John Proctor wants to show justice too. By this time Hale is seriously thinkg of a non-witchcraft related reason for the hysteria.
“Excellency, he claims hard evidence for his wife’s defence. I think that in all justice you must-” –(p69)
Hale tries to support Giles and convince the court judges. In this part of ‘The Crucible’, Hale isn’t as respected. The higher court judges have been brought in and they have more power than Hale. Hale is still a man of importance and is respected, but he doesn’t have the power over who lives and dies. Arthur Miller has created a character almost on the borderline of powerful and ordinary. By doing this he makes the happenings seem more out of control and unrealistic. Hale is the only man of some sort of respected power that’s knows what Abigail and the girls are doing is wrong. Rev. Parris also knows but he is an insecure man who doesn’t know what to believe. Rev. Hale looked upon as someone who knows everything about the supernatural, but has n authority when it comes to law and power.
“I think you must hear the girl, sir, she-” –(p71)
Again, the higher judgers cut off Rev.Hale. Arthur Miller is making the reader get the impression that the judges are hiding the fact that they know that what Abigail and the girls are claiming is not entirely true. The judges could have been tricked by the girls and believe the evidence that they bring forward, and they are falling into the girls mind trap. Whichever situation, they do not want someone lower than them proving them wrong. The hysteria and even though they may not be doing it purposefully, they seem to be causing as much trouble as the girls are.
Hale realising that if John Proctor is seen as innocent, the mess will as end more people will confess. Hales also realises that as soon as he confesses, Danforth and Parris will be proven right. As John Proctor is such a known person in the community, if he confesses all the village trouble will be for a reason. John Proctor does not confess because he sticks to his principles and he doesn’t want to stain his, or anyone else’s, name. Miller uses Hale in this scene to build up the emotion of the situation. Hale
is there urging Proctor to sign it to save his own life and others, not for Danforth and Parris’ sake like he should be.
Arthur Miller cleverly uses Rev. Hale in his play ‘The Crucible’. Hales character adds a sense of sadness and hope to the play. He is the only man of authority who understands what’s going on and
wants to do something about it. Hale starts out as a typical devil-searching holy man, but by the end of the play he has become a man desperate to see things right and to save the lives of all those who have been condemned.
