It is my belief that
Hale should not be held very responsible for the witch trials (as presented in the play). He is
asked to come to Salem by Reverend Parris, and he is quite prepared to believe that there are no
witches, going so far as to warn people that he will not proceed in his investigation if they
are not willing to believe him should he determine this to be the case. Tituba, the slave,
offers him a confession, even saying that there were others she saw with the devilfor sad and
understandable reasons of her ownand he believes her. Why would he not? She seems compelling and
even embellishes her story with details about the Devil telling her to kill Parris, her
owner.
Hale does not step in later when the accusations become more
far-fetched because, as he says, "until an hour before the devil fell, God thought him
beautiful in heaven." He isn't wrong, as far as his theology goes. Later, still, he does
object to the court's proceedings and tries to intervene, but Danforth is more powerful than
Hale and will not listen to Hale's objections. Hale could try harder to do more, but I do think
his intentions are always only good, and he is, perhaps, simply too trusting in his fellow
man.
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