Reverend Hale In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

The effects that occur within a society when pressure is placed on different aspects can cause a person to conform into what the society is trying to force them into anyway. Throughout The Crucible the proof that a society can truly change who people are in a situation and make it to where the people are going against their original beliefs and morals. The importance of conforming isn’t just one that plays a role on the outside of a character but how they are changed on the inside as well that truly shows the change played on the character. Included in The Crucible are many characters that go through a struggle that leads them to changing to the expectations set for them, leading to questioning themselves, one of the main characters that this is found in would be Reverend Hale with the role he played on the executions as well as the attempt to prevent, what he once believed was fair from happening, the executions of others.
To begin with, Hale came to Salem to be a help to Reverend Parris throughout his visit to Salem he says, “...the Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points!” The way that Hale goes about the situation worsens with the furthering of the accusations by saying that they must be watchful of the people that are accused and must do what they can to prevent the spread of evil.
The thoughts that came of Hale were one that he believed to be right and how he was trying to better the village of Salem. After looking at the thoughts he had at the beginning of his visit to Salem it is easily realized that he would soon question his own thoughts and even what he has been taught to believe even though he continues to follow what is expected from
him.

Furthermore, Hale turns his thoughts around to almost trying to defend a few of those accused by trying to appeal to the court by saying, “I have this morning signed away the soul of Rebecca Nurse, Your Honor. I’ll not conceal it, my hand shakes yet as with a wound! I pray you, sir, this argument let lawyers present to you.” With his attempt to appease the court and allow further involvement of the accused spouses’ he is showing that his conscience has started to play a role in his decisions because of him starting to question his past choices with signing the death warrants. Hale started seeing a new way to guide his actions throughout his character development and would even question this to himself because now he would be conforming to the other side of society rather than what is expected of him. The way that he conforms within the play imposes an important role in the way that the characters were affected and in some aspects was the cause of deaths but also became the way that people lived. Likewise, it shows that even though people hold power and are expected to do certain things doesn’t mean that they are not internally conflicted, and this shows the imperfections within a human.

Ultimately, the way that people conform to the environment around them could potentially mean that they are internally struggling with the change. The struggle that played on Reverend John Hale showed itself through his following action that was taken. The Crucible shows many aspects of people within a society where the people are forced to conform to the beliefs of the church or of the reverend and how this played a role in the time. Overall Reverend Hale would go through a big amount of conforming throughout his visit to Salem that would affect the people that are accused as well as the people surrounding him and it showed the power he held that he still questioned that contributed to the play.