Reverend Parris

Reverend John Hale is an educated but naive witch hunter, brought into Salem by Reverend Parris to examine his daughter Betty and give his expert opinion on her condition. Arthur Miller describes Hale as a "tight skinned, eager eyed intellectual." He often carries around large books, and on his entry into the town of Salem and early on in the play, Hale seems swept away with his own feeling of self importance.

In Act two, Hale visits the Proctor home in order to ask questions about their faith and beliefs. He is being extremely inquisitive and cunning, in a way that intimidates John and Elizabeth Proctor and makes them highly suspicious and uneasy of the questioning. When Hale asks Elizabeth if she knew the 10 Commandments, Miller describes his tone of voice as "one administering a secret

"For the people." This statement can readily be applied to Reverend Samuel Parris. Rev. Parris was a good man who was trying to find his place in Salem as a good minister who wanted the people of Salem to trust and believe in him. He was the new minister of the town of Salem. He was in an effort to try and win over the town of Salem through the power of god. The events in Arthur Miller's The Crucible, made it difficult for Reverend Samuel Parris to gain popularity among the people

With notable exception of John Proctor, Hale gets our vote for most complex character in The Crucible. We say so, because Hale goes through a major personal journey over the course of the play. He starts off with really good intentions. In Act One, Miller writes of Hale: "His goal is light, goodness, and its preservation." This guy has trained and trained to be the best witch-hunter ever, and he's psyched to finally get a chance to show off his stuff. Though he's probably a little full of himself, but ultimately his goal is to valiantly fight the Devil. What could be wrong with that? Well, a whole lot.

In Act Two, we see that Hale's former confidence is slowly eroding. This is demonstrated by the fact that he shows up at the Proctors' house of his own accord. He's there without the court's knowledge, trying to get an idea of who the Proctors are for himself. This independent action is a big hint that he's probably beginning to doubt the validity of his own conclusions. When John Proctor gets convicted in Act Three, through Abigail's transparent machinations, Hale's confidence is shattered. He quits the court and storms out in anger.

The transition from overconfidence to total disillusionment is already a big journey, but then Miller takes his character a step further in Act Four. After taking off for some soul searching, Hale turns up hoping to save some lives. He councils convicted witches to confess, so that they won't be hanged. Hale is knowingly counseling people to lie. He's lost all faith in

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