The Role Of Madness In The Crucible (Essay Sample)

This is a question often asked in Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, where Abigail Williams terrorizes the town of Salem with the thought of witchcraft. In fact, Abigail is constantly lying and accusing innocent people of witchcraft to save herself from punishment, and potentially gaining the love of John Proctor.  For instance, Abigail calls Reverend Hale down to Salem to see if he can find any signs of witchcraft, even though she was just making it up. Whereas, if Abigail would have told the truth, Reverend Hale would not be in Salem and the Salem Witch Trials would not have taken place. However, Hale is one of the most logical thinkers throughout the play, so therefore he should not take responsibility for the events that occurred throughout the Salem Witch Trials.

When Reverend Hale first arrives in Salem, he makes it very clear that he does not want the townspeople to jump to assume witchcraft is the cause for the girls feeling unwell.  As Reverend Hale speaks to the townsfolk, he states “Now let me instruct you. We cannot in Salem look to superstition in this.”(35). While Reverend Hale speaks, he attempts to persuade the people of the town to open their minds to another source of the girls feeling unwell.  Reverend Hale continues to say, “The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone and we must look only for his proper signs and judge nothing beforehand..”(35). By providing the townspeople with the signs and evidence to look for, it will make his case easier to justify that there is a logical answer to the problem at hand. Consequent to the actions of Hale, the crowd of townspeople starts to demand Hale to make an accusation based on their questions. 

When Giles Cory approaches Reverend Hale he prompts Hale with the question “What signifies the readin‘ of strange books?” (37).  Hale replies, “Why, that‘s not necessarily…” (37). As Hale attempts to point out that reading is not witchcraft nor uncommon for educated women, he is interrupted by Giles. He goes on to tell of how he could not pray with his wife, Miranda, in the room with her book open and comes to the conclusion that the devil must be involved. Even though Hale tried to justify why it was okay for Miranda to read, Giles continued to talk about how uncomfortable it made him feel, as he went on to say, “I‘m not sayin‘ she‘s touched the Devil, now, but I‘d admire to know what books she reads and why she hides them” (38). After, Hale continues to answer the accusations of witchcraft and help find the most logical reason for the events occurring. 

Eventually, Reverend Hale got to his breaking point while serving on the court, and went on to announce that the decisions made by the court are wrong and evil. In fact, Hale was a witness to the courts accusing all the townspeople throughout the Salem Witch Trials, even the innocent. This, however, led Hale to leave the court due to the irrationality of the court during the Salem Witch Trials.   “I denounce these proceedings! I quit this court!”(111), states Hale in frustration. Throughout the trials, Hale had so much knowledge that was not being put to use, for the reason that no matter how he logically reasoned it, the townsfolk would not listen. Reverend Hale later goes on to say, “ You must pardon them. They will not budge.”(119).  Some of the most compelling evidence though is that Hale begged Hathorn to pardon the townsfolk, for he knew they were innocent of the crimes they were being accused of.

Throughout the play, Reverend Hale’s actions show that he is a very logical thinker. For this reason Hale was on the court, looking for the most logical reason for the girls not feeling well. Hence the fact that Abigail lied throughout the play accusing the innocent of witchcraft to avoid the consequences of her actions while also trying to gain the love of John Proctor, she should be the one held responsible for the Salem Witch Trials. If Abigail would have never lied then the Salem witch trials would not exist. It would not be right for Reverend Hale to take the blame for something he tried his best to stop, from logistical reasoning with the townsfolk to begging Hathron to pardon the innocent people.