...Characterization of Reverend John Hale Throughout The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the characterization of an archetypal hero, Reverend John Hale, to reveal how when arrogant and nationalistic pride becomes involved even the most intelligent and moral man’s moral compass can be distorted. This universal truth and Hale’s archetypal characteristics were revealed by Miller to reprehend those who fell into McCarthyism and the flaws in the American society in the nineteen-fifties, which were impacts of their blinded morals. To comprehend the idea of this specific universal truth, one first must understand Hale’s characterization through Aristotle’s archetypal hero traits. The first criteria, Noble...
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...Although morals are an indication of a person’s perception of right or wrong, there is a fundamental thread that connects morality to everyone. Whether these morals are in relation to a religion, culture or the law, society has developed universal moral standards. However, individuals are capable of abandoning morality as a whole, resulting in significant repercussions. William Shakespeare and Arthur Miller show evidence of this in The Merchant of Venice and The Crucible, when their characters step away from their morals and carry out wrongful actions. Although the underlying reason for the characters’ social demises is similar, the motives for their actions are specific and personal. By carrying out actions fueled by revenge, both Abigail...
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...characters in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World and John Hale’s A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft. The Crucible is a play about the Salem witch trials and the characters who are accused and judged based off of their reputation. Each character’s perception is different than what the actual reality is of the witchcraft because they have their own views about this trial. In Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World, Cotton Mather is warning the townspeople about the devil taking control of their lives. He encourages them to take action and do something about it,...
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...Conformity in The Crucible We often hear about people of Middle Eastern descent being called terrorist at the airport and no one doing anything to stop that behavior, if you do anything people hate you. In our daily lives we face many decisions that are minor but affect our future. For example, do you go with the crowd and bully someone or do you attempt to do the morally correct thing and stand up to the bullying and face social harassment of your own? The Crucible, by Arthur Miller is a play about an affair between John Proctor and Abigail Williams and most importantly the Salem witch trials. Innocent people are being accused of witches for no reason and people blindly follow along, but John Proctor dies to go against the conformity. In...
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...it the trials have been blown out of proportion, he even says to Reverend Parris, “It suggests to the mind what the trouble to be among us all these years. To all: Think of it.Wherefore is everybody suing everybody else? Think on it now, it’s a deep thing, and dark as a pit. I have been six times in court this year―”(The Crucible, pg 31) He in trust asked about a weird book his wife was reading and nothing uneventful happened to Martha, his wife, questioned the accusations of all the teen girls who are going around accusing people in the village of witchcraft in order to save themselves or revenge. When his wife went to jail for false accusations, but Giles didn’t stay quiet. He knew the risks because the whole village was on the girls side, believing their lies, nonetheless he went ahead of the judge and the villagers to prove his wife's innocence. Imagine him above everyone that believes he is a crazy-old man who comes to overthrow the court. Danforth says to Giles, “And how do you imagine to help her cause with such contemptuous riot? Now be gone. Your old age alone keeps you out of jail for this.” ,but Giles won’t leave without a fight because his morals are better than that. This eighty year old farmer, known as the most ‘comical hero’ in history is most well known for his death, Giles Corey was pressed to death after being arrested for contempt because he wouldn’t give up people and he was accused of being a wizard. Mary Warren was the one to break the news to Proctor, “He...
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...The Crucible Essay “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller is based on witch trials in Salem 1692. “The Crucible” was written because of McCarthyism which started in 1950 and ended in 1954. Senator Joe and his campaign accused US government and other organizations of communist. Many people lost their job because of McCarthyism. McCarthyism and witch trials in Salem of 1692 are both similar events. Many people had their reputation damaged because of false accusation. In “The Crucible” we see John Proctor character go from being bad to an heroic character. He is introduced to us as a adulterous man, but in the end of the play he is represented as a heroic man. Abigail and her friends start to accuse people of witchcraft. The who village goes crazy about witchcraft. John Proctor decides to go to Salem and talks to Abigail by himself to see what all this mischief is about. Abigail tells John Proctor they are just acting silly and it all sport. Abigail and John talk back and forth and this is when we find out what...
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...Farmer John Proctor The characters inside of “The Crucible” live in the corrupt town of Salem. Suspicion of evil witchcraft activity between little girls turns into a controversy that will forever split the town. People are falsely blamed for a variety of reasons by an assortment of lying girls and sentenced to death by delusional judges of the court. These occurrences cause severe change in the main characters of the play; John Proctor, for example, undergoes major changes in behavior and attitude during the course of the play. Once his wife and family are involved, the trials become more than just silly happenings to Proctor. Towards the beginning of “The Crucible” Proctor’s actions were substantially influenced by how personal the cases in court became to him. When the trials began to spread to people who the Proctors’ care about Elizabeth wants John to go to court to tell how Abigail and the girls were lying. Afraid of Abigail telling on the affair, John Proctor is very hesitant to go to Salem. After Elizabeth tells John to hurry up and decide whether he is going into town, “I have good reason to think before I charge fraud upon Abigail…” (Miller, 194). Proctor decides that trying to save Rebecca Nurse and the others will only lead to Abigail ruining his name. Proctor, after being left amuck at the whole situation, leaves his anger out on Mary Warren. These decisions Proctor made will have resurgence later in “The Crucible”. John Proctor makes many choices that effects...
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...The protagonist of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor, passes his extreme test because he is willing to put his life and reputation at risk to free Elizabeth from all of her troubles. John’s past affair with the jealous Abigail Williams is no secret to Elizabeth. Determined to do anything she can to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft, Abigail makes up many lies about her like accusing her of implanting a needle in a doll. John finally sees that there is only one way to stop the hysteria in Salem: to admit his sin of adultery. “I have known her, sir. I have known her”(1145). Proctor faces one of his crucible moments in the play, when he tells the court he committed the crime of adultery, and he passes. He confesses in front of the court and the judges that he himself was an adulterer. Proctor feels he owed this to Elizabeth. He wants to make up for...
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...The definition of crucible is a situation of severe trial, or in which different elements interact, leading to the creation of something new. John Proctor had several incidents where he would have to make very important decisions that would be based on his morals and he managed to stay above and do the right thing. He can easily be identified as the character that defines the word “crucible” because he realizes the most important decision is to fight for one’s moral truth, no matter how harsh the repercussions may be. When John and his wife, Elizabeth discuss the happenings in the town, he only somewhat confesses about his lechery to her, in which he can be condemned for. She doesn’t take it the way he thinks she will and she leaves everything...
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...Marasti Ms. Kelly Survey of American Literature 16 October 2015 The Crucible Analytical Paper “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it,” Benjamin Franklin once said. Reputation has a large impact on the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts in the play, The Crucible. John Proctor is most affected by the thought of maintaining an acceptable reputation for his name. Throughout The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, John Proctor made many mistakes, one such as committing adultery, which made his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, lose his trust. Although he made mistakes, the town still saw John as a respectable man who cared immensely for his family. In the end, John did admit his sin of adultery and was hanged. Through “Aristotle’s Poetics” it is proved that John Proctor is the tragic hero of The Crucible because his true character comes out and he becomes a good man in the end by admitting to his wrong-doings, committing adultery, in order to save his reputation and family. John Proctor ruins his reputation within the change of fortune, or catastrophe, appeal of “Aristotle’s Poetics”. A change of fortune is explained as “occurs when a character produces an effect opposite to that which he intended to produce…”(McManus). John Proctor did not want his reputation ruined or his relationship with his wife ruined, however the complete opposite happened to him creating a major problem. The change of fortune is when John is finally forced to admit to the court about...
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...Throughout the play The Crucible, several characters undergo change but it is Reverend Hale that changes the most from the beginning to the end. Reverend Hale was summoned from Boston to evaluate Salem and diagnose any witchcraft present. Because of his eagerness to please the town of Salem he is manipulated into doing things that he thinks is right. Notably, Reverend Hale in the end manages to try to help the accused out of the trouble he got them into. In detail, upon arriving in Salem, Reverend Hale is very optimistic and ready for a challenge. In the following quote Hale shows his control over the current situation in Salem “Now let me instruct you. We cannot look to superstition in this. The devil is precise; the marks of his presence...
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...------------------------------------------------- Character Progression and Development of Reverend John Hale in The Crucible The character of Reverend Hale, in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, experiences a profound, dramatic and transformative personal evolution from when he comes to Salem in Act One through the climax in the third act. In the final act, in this progression, his identity by profession is challenged when he is confronted with the realization of an unjust, immoral community, and he responds with integrity and moral truth by abandoning his assigned mission of “witch hunter” in order to truly save others. When Reverend Hale first comes onto the scene, he is a pious and revered minister who was summoned by Reverend Parris because of his expertise on uncovering witchcraft. Reverend Hale presents as a strict and dedicated professional; he is confident, even arrogant as to his education, knowledge and, his authoritative role as expert, and falls back upon the fact that Salem needs him to resolve the unrest and chaos in the community. The hysteria in Salem is clearly exacerbated by Hale’s investigation; but initially, Hale is fueled by his charge to rid Salem of witchcraft and his self-assurance in that role, Hale finds himself, in the end, questioning his own integrity and his moral beliefs when he realizes that the witchcraft accusations were false. He has to battle his own internal guilt and regret for the needless suffering of other accused and persecuted which...
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...The Salem witch trials are notoriously known for the killings of innocent inhabitants of Salem. Some say the cause of their deaths could be traced back to Salem’s strict social order. The structure of 1600’s Salem was very religion-based as it was woven into everyday life. The government was a theocracy, the priests were highly respected, and anyone who went against the government was considered evil. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible unveils the realistic effect of social order on one’s personal freedom. Because religion was so vital in 1600’s Salem’s social order, the inhabitants suffered from a lack of personal freedom. The structure of the Puritan society in colonial Massachusetts served an important role in the setting of The Crucible. The...
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...The Crucible, Arthur Miller displays issues with Salem’s overall morals through Proctor’s adamant defiance to the others’ accusations of witchcraft and refusal to accuse innocents even until his death. The judges are willing to torture and use Proctor’s weakness until he admits to his crimes, thus showing their determination to have the people admit even if the accused are innocent. When the judges discuss about Proctor, Herrick mentions, “You’d not know he lived...
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...Icelic 1 Marija Icelic Garica, Joshua English III 19 October 2015 Reputation in the Crucible The characters in the play The Crucible have a lot of things about reputation. They are all known as good citizens, for one reason or another, and they all would like to keep their good name. John Proctor would like to be known as the man who sticks up for the little person and always does the right thing. Judge Danforth wants to be known as a good judge who always makes the right decisions. Abigail and girls want to be known as good girls who are not witches and believe in God. All of these characters choose to keep their reputations rather than do the right thing or saving their lives. The importance of having a good name is a one of the biggest thing in Crucible. John Proctor is the model citizen. He has good morals and tries to do the right things. He protects the innocent people. He has built up a lot of respect for his name. That is why it is hard for Proctor to give up his good name. Everyone sees him as the good guy. For example, Proctor had an affair with Abigail. He can use this evidence in court to show that she is guilty, but he doesn’t want to. He tries to find other ways to prove her guilty without losing his respect. Also, Proctor is able to get away free if he agrees to sign a paper saying he was an ally of the devil. He struggles to lie that he did work with the devil. When he is asked to sign a paper saying this, he can’t.This is the quote from the book that...
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