The Crucible Essay Example

Originating from the 1952 play write The Crucible, which was based on the real-life incidents of witch trials taking place in Salem, Massachusetts taking over 20 innocent lives. This textual play was eventually adapted into a 1996 movie, which had won many awards revolving around acting skills. Throughout the play, the audience gets to watch many characters and their development over time. One character that the readers and audience get to see a handful of times is Reverend John Hale. He was of the puritan religion and was the pastor of a church in the town of Beverley, Massachusetts. Hale deals with many internal conflicts, for example, the ties between the church and the courthouse ideas during his inclusion in the trials, as well as his own individuality and creation of his own thoughts and ideas during the end of his time. Finally, though information might be given,  someone shall not try to use religious reasoning as a primary source of evidence as well as someone's status against any accusations.

What Happens in the Beginning

First off,  at the beginning of  The Crucible, Hale comes to the town of Salem to join the court and help out with the witch trials. He is accompanied by two other judges by the names of Hathorne and Danforth. The three use the rules and ways of the puritan religion as well as the courts’ rules/ system to prove ones that are accused either guilty or not guilty. Religion plays a big role in the scripted play and is used to show one's devotion to the church and how close they are to God, as well as people believing everything the court says since they are of higher authority. One quote that Hale states is, “I note that you rarely in the church on Sabbath day”(64). This quotation entails that religion has been playing a big role in everyone's life in Salem.

If suspicion arises that one isn’t as devoted to the church and God as others are, it can raise much worry upon the church, court, and citizens which can put a possible innocent person up for trial. This is an unruly way of rationalizing suspicions and resolving incidents because religious ideas seem very one sided and not that universal. There are strict guidelines to follow which leaves no le-way for opinionated answers and reasonings. Additionally there is a topic of “ knowing your commandments”(66). These are regulated and abided by the church as well as the court. Judges will use the knowledge and the memorization of all the commandments to see if you should be put up for trial or not. This is also an unruly system to grade and judge people by since memorization isn't always a key trait and someone could’ve never been taught any of these things yet in their life. Easing further into the play, Hale has been included in the responsibility of the hanging of about a dozen citizens by now. He now feels weary of his actions and starts to question the reasonings and all evidence provided in the trials.

What Hale Learns

Last but not least with dozens killed, Hale learns that witchcraft had never infected Salem and it had been a whole sham. All that he has learned and all the reasoning he had used was now all thrown out the window.  He now starts to take the “doubters” of witchcrafts' side of things which include citizens such as Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor, Martha Corey, and Rebbeca Nurse. Hale has now sinced realized the court and himself had wrongly accused many innocent citizens and is now wanting to own up to his decisions and actions. Hale is now going against material he once thought were correct sources of information ( church/religion, and the court rules/systems) and proving accusations with pure logic and universal ideas.

A line of text that Hale once states is,”And what I touched with my bright confidence, it died and where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up" (202). The  quote provided proves a resolution because at this point in the play (act 4)  reverend Hale has realized the court and himself have wrongly accused dozens of innocent citizens of the acts of witchcraft. He now is set out to do what is right even if that means turning against the church and the court. This is a very big turning point inside the plays since it shows one with status not caring about their ego and ranking, but to do what is right because that will make them  a better person. Out of the whole entire court Hale is the only one to state that he is wrong.

For the other two, Hathorne and Danforth, they do not confess to their wrong doings due to the thought of losing their stature and positions in Salem. Later down the line(3 months or so) Hale makes another entrance back into Salem and is here “to do the Devil’s work”(205). He has since resigned from the court and the church and is now trying to save all captive prisoners from execution by  telling them to lie to the judges and that their lives will be saved. This shows how much tragedy that Hale has been through and all the bad things that he had done before. And he will now do anything to rewrite his wrongs and try to spread light on this dark situation.

In the end, Hale the pastor from a distant land and  a goody two shoes that loved to follow rules, has now abided and went against all that he used to believe in for the better. The reader will now realize how one sided religious thoughts/ideas  can be and as well as your status doesn't always prove your correctness. Everything shall be backed up with universal and well rounded evidence that correlates with the incident(s) that might be given. This can relate to the real in ways because in reality there are churches and religions as well as courts systems. But the way humans now use these systems and rulings is much more advanced than Salem had ever hoped.