The Crucible, how the characters change.

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        In the beginning of The Crucible Reverend Hale chooses to hunt down and question people who are being accused of witchcraft in Salem, but by the end, he feels guilty and responsible for how many people have been turned in, trialed, and hanged due to the accusations. Reverend Hale shows up at homes of the accused to question them about committing witchcraft. Reverend Hale tells John and Elizabeth Proctor, “I am a stranger here, as you know. And in my ignorance I find it hard to draw a clear opinion of them that come accused before the court. And so this afternoon, and now tonight, I go from house to house—I come now from Rebecca Nurse’s house…” (Miller 63-64). Reverend Hale is curious to figure out whether the ones accused are truly guilty of witchery. As the trials proceed and people whom are not confessing are being hanged, Reverend Hale feels guilty for the deaths because of the questioning he did. He says, “There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head” (131)! Meaning that Reverend Hale feels he is a part of the reason so many people have died. Now that John is in jail, he tells Elizabeth, “You know, do you not, that I have no connection with the court? I come of my own, Goody Proctor. I would save your husband’s life, for if he is taken I count myself of his murderer. Do you understand me” (131)? In Act Two, the Proctors are questioned of witchcraft by Reverend Hale, but by Act Four he feels guilty and responsible for the many deaths that have occurred throughout the trials.

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        Unlike Elizabeth Proctor and Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams remains the selfish and heartless villain of the play. She manipulates her friends and all of Salem to protect herself. After being discharged from Elizabeth for the affair Abigail had with John, she tells Reverend Parris, “[Elizabeth] hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman, and I will not work for such a woman” (12). Abigail makes herself seem innocent while she make Elizabeth seem like the person in the wrong. We see no change in Abigail as the ...

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