John Hale from the Crucible

John Hale, from the Crucible

Dynamic, Reverend John Hale needs only this one word to describe him. That is what separates Hale from any other character in the Crucible, while most characters are entirely static, with the exception of Elizabeth. That is why I consider him to be the best, and most flushed out character in the Crucible. In this report I will describe and analyze the character of John Hale and try show why his is the best character in the Crucible.

In the first paragraph I will analyze the character of John Hale and describe what just makes him so dynamic. At the beginning of act one we only hear about John Hale and can only make judgment upon what is said about him. From that information given we can draw some conclusions about John Hale. First of all he is a just man, which never changes throughout the entire story. We can also tell that he is a self-taught "expert" on witches, and believes that anyone can fall under the control of Satan. It is a quote from John Hale in the Crucible that explains this "until an hour before the devil fell, God thought him beautiful in heaven"(858 Miller).

Now I will look later into the story and look into how Hale is slowly changing. Towards the end of the first act we finally get to see (or read) John Hale. Because of this there is some direct and indirect characterization by the author. We also get a look at Mr. Hales motives because of this. "Coming into Salem now, Reverend Hale conceives of himself much as a young doctor on his first call...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. (844 Miller). As you can see he is very adamant about finding whatever is wrong with the girls and purging them of the problem. It seems as if he knows that witches have had something to do with the way the girls have been acting. Soon after John Hale finds out about the girls dancing in the woods he becomes very curious about what is really going on, and has his first doubts about the girls. The doubts get larger throughout the story and increases allot when he first visits the home of John and Elizabeth Proctor. He soon realizes after John Proctor tells him about himself, his family, and the girls that they could be lying.

In this third paragraph I will explain his final change and how it is so much different from the John Hale we first meet in act one. In act three we meet a totally different John Hale who not only has his doubts, but also now is very much on the side of the accused. You can first tell the changes when John Proctor brings his servant Mary Warren to judge Danforth. During the scene you can tell he knows now that the girls are lying and he must do anything he can to see justice succeed. "I have this morning signed away the soul of Rebecca Nurse,