The Crucible John Hale Tragic Hero

693 Words3 Pages
all hopes of him to catch those that practiced witchcraft (Act I). He, being the very eager and determined person he was, wanted to put all his knowledge and learning to use and wanted to help people. While others with weaker moral values would have pursued the people more to finally use their life’s work, he didn’t. John resisted and his moral superiority showed through. Even though the people of Salem don’t know this about John, it is this aura around him that shows where he has been and what he has done that makes these people look up to him. The next characteristic of a tragic hero is that the hero is observed struggling with a fatal flaw. Although a stereotype of men of God is that they are seen as perfect, John has several struggles in the play, many of which, ironically, go back to him being a moral figure in society. John is ultimately too confident in his own knowledge and too…show more content…
This is seen in the character Reverend John Hale when the girls’ dancing comes to light, Hale immediately starts questioning the girls, which leads him to questioning Tituba, Reverend Paris’s slave. While intensely questioning her, he gets so caught up in getting to the bottom of the witchcraft outbreak that he throws away his common sense and inadvertently feeds what to do to Abigail. If Hale would ask if Tituba was feeling cold, Abigail and the Cronies would act like they were shivering (Act 1). He was too confident in what was in his books that he didn’t even think that he could possibly be taken advantage of. This little slip in his judgement causes a domino effect for all the other plot points in the story. Without Abigail first creating the idea in people’s heads that the girls were being tortured by witches, nothing else would have happened, the trials probably wouldn’t have gone on, and John wouldn’t have been hung. Hale’s persistence and oblivion are his
Show More
Related

  • John Proctor Tragic Hero

    397 Words  | 2 Pages

    The tragic hero is a character, typically a man, who is a leader of men, has a tragic flaw, is doomed from the start, and undergoes great suffering for a purpose. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible tells the story of the Salem Witch Trials, in which John Proctor, as well as other, innocent people, are hanged for witchcraft. John Proctor is a tragic hero because he is a respected member of society, has hamartia and understands that his downfall was brought about by his own actions. John Proctor, like most

    Read More

  • John Proctor As A Tragic Hero In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

    583 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible; John Proctor, a tortured individual and valued member of the community shows several traits of a tragic hero. He demonstrates hamartia, experiences a reversal of fortune which leads to his downfall, and suffers a terrible fate which strikes pity and terror into the hearts of the readers. John Proctor is a member of the Puritan religion and community of Salem, Massachusetts. He was a hard working and highly respected member of his community. ¨I nailed the roof

    Read More

More about The Crucible John Hale Tragic Hero

Open Document