Reverend Hale Quotes

If only Reverend Jonathan Hale knew what he was getting himself into as he stepped into Salem on a dark gloomy day. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, it seems that the characters all care about getting rid of witchcraft. But in the end, their actions go too far, and their accusing become unethical. Since Reverend Hale is motivated by finding and ending witchcraft, his decision to stop retaliating against the court creates many tragedies in the ending of the play. Many things motivate Reverend Hale throughout The Crucible. At first, Hale is motivated by finding witchcraft. His faith and books drive him to get rid of witchcraft in the town of Salem. “You are God’s instrument put in our hands to discover the Devil’s agents among us.
He starts to make choices to retaliate against the court and wants to give the accused people a fair trial. “I cannot say he is an honest man; I know him little. But in all justice, sir, a claim so weighty cannot be argued by a farmer. In God’s name, sir, stop here; send him home and let him come again with a lawyer”(99) This quote from The Crucible proves that Reverend Hale is starting to retaliate against the court and is trying to give the John Proctor, an accused person of witchcraft a fair trial. It’s obvious in the sentences above that Hale is starting to go against the court, and that he’s trying to give the accused a fair trial.
Finally at the end of the book, Hale realizes the people have gone crazy with the accusations, and there is no witchcraft in Salem. Hale makes a bold decision to stop the trails and tries to save incident people's lives. Hale to Danforth “You must pardon them. They will not budge” (129). This quote shows that Hale believes the people that are accused, and he tries to buy them time to save their lives. Unfortunately Hale is too late, and many tragedies happen because of unfair trials. As you can see in the last few sentences, it’s obvious that Reverend Hale is trying to spare the lives of the accused