Cruible Epilogue

Evelyn Wheeler

Mr. Provenzano 1st Hour

October 14, 2011

The Crucible Epilogue

            Reverend Hale once had a great reputation. He was a middle-aged man from Beverly who had a specialty in confronting witchcraft. Everyone was enthralled by his belief in the devil and wanted him to find who was a devil in their town. But Abigail Williams ruined everything for him. She had everyone in the town under her spell. All she had to do was convince them that she was possessed by a witch and they went against anything Hale said. With this loss of power, Hale could no longer pursue this career in Salem.

            Hale decided to leave the town of Salem. He went back to his hometown, Beverly. He was greeted by his wife and three young children. He did not want to tell them of his failure in fear that they might be disappointed. But once he told them about it, they encouraged him to pursue his career in finding witchcraft by returning to Salem and proving Abigail wrong. After thinking about this opportunity, he decided that he would go. Hale left for Salem by himself and found that Abigail had run away with Mary Warren and never returned. Hale ran into his former friend Reverend Parris. Parris explained that he was about to leave for an expedition and asked if Hale would assist him in his expedition around the colonies. On this expedition, they would speak about witches to every house they came across. Hale agreed to this plan, hoping this opportunity would allow him to redeem himself and make up for his failure.

They packed all the items they owned and began their journey on foot. They hiked North of Massachusetts and stopped in New Hampshire. There was no success in New Hampshire; everyone rejected them and believed that their theories were foolish. They went to the other states around the area: Vermont, Maine, New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. But they received the same reaction as they did from those in New Hampshire. It seemed as if no one wanted to learn about witches.

            When they went to the southern states, it was different. People began to listen to their words. After a while, colonists were calling for them rather than them calling for colonists. They became two of the most influential speakers in America. People from all around the colonies would gather regularly to listen to Hale and Parris speak about witches and how to tell if one possesses a family member or friend. They were respected and paid large amounts of money for their actions. Hale and Parris decided to use this money to extend their expedition across the ocean. They first purchased a ship and crew to take them across the Atlantic Ocean. When they left America on a sunny summer day, everything seemed like it was going to go perfectly. People could not wait for them to come back and share all of their experiences. The voyage was to take several months and set to land in London, England. Unfortunately, the men encountered something along the journey that they did not expect.

            It was the twentieth day of the journey, a rainy and windy day. So far, the trip had been very successful. The weather had been nice and there had been no disturbances. Hale and Parris had just woken up from a nap during midday when they heard men yelling frantically up above their quarters. They arose to find that the wind speed had picked up and the rain was now coming down much harder than before. The sky seemed a gray color that they hadn’t seen before. The crew was frantically running around the deck trying to protect each other. Hale and Parris were not very experienced when it came to navigating in a boat, so they thought it would be alright to just wait on the deck until the storm passed. They viewed the storm as a minor obstacle in their journey. But after many minutes passed, the storm had not stopped. In fact, the storm was beginning to worsen. Without warning, one of the men was thrown into the sea by the powerful wind. The other men anxiously tried to pull him back into the ship, but they had no luck. The man was carried away by the massive waves like a hopeless buoy. Hale and Parris then realized that the storm was capable of much destruction. At that moment, they began to summon the other men to their quarters, hoping to save lives.

            During all the commotion, Parris lost sight of Hale. He was so busy helping the others escape from the storm that he didn’t notice Hale as he slipped over the side of the deck and into the ocean. Parris looked around for him and finally noticed Hale flailing around in the deep blue water. He sprinted to him and spread his arm out as far as possible. Hale struggled to reach his arm but eventually did. Just as Parris was using all his strength to pull him in, a large wind came. It was so overpowering that Parris lost his grip of Hale, and he lost his life to the sea.  

Crucible Essay

                During the Salem Witch trials, there were a few people who played very important roles. There was Abigail Williams, the girl who accused the witches. She had the power to make the whole town believe her, even though she lied. There was Reverend Hale, the one who tried to help those accused. He came to the town to find the witches but discovered that the people Abigail was accusing were completely innocent. Lastly, there was Judge Danforth, the man that had the power to sentence or not to sentence any accused person. He had the final say in who was going to be sent to jail. The three people that had the most impact on the Salem Witch trials were Abigail Williams, Reverend Hale, and Judge Danforth.

                Pretending that she is being controlled by the devil gives Abigail power. She has the power to accuse anyone she wants and be able to cause their death. She forces some of the other girls in the town to join her untruthful game. One of the girls that joins her is Mary Warren, one of Abigail's main followers. Eventually, Mary decides to come clean about the lies they have been telling. When Mary begins to tell people that the girls are lying, Abigail pretends that Mary is trying to hurt her. “Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it’s God’s work to do” (Miller, 115). This makes Mary realize that she does not have the power to go against what Abigail is doing because Abigail can make her life miserable.

                Reverend Hale acts as the peacekeeper in this novel. He tries to make the townspeople settle down in Salem because they are all caught up in the talk about witchcraft. He wants them to realize that Abigail and the other girls are telling false tales. No one will believe him because they are all so struck by Abigail’s stories. Hale is shocked by the town’s ability to believe such an obvious lie. “I came to this village like a bridegroom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion; the very crowns of holy law I brought, and what I touched with my bright confidence, it died; and where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up” (Miller, 132). Reverend Hale is saying that the town has gone so mad that they are no longer being true to their religion. He came to relieve people from the sin of witchcraft but instead sees that these people have other problems.

                There are many examples of followers in this story. Judge Danforth is one of those followers. He follows whatever Abigail and the other girls say about people and their witch-like abilities. This is a terrible thing because Judge Danforth is the one responsible for sentencing witches to death. If he believes the lies that Abigail tells, he will end up sending innocent people to jail. He admits that he does not know for sure if the people he is sending to jail are guilty of witchcraft. “…witchcraft is ‘ipso facto,’ on its face and by its nature, on invisible crime, is it not? Therefore, who may possibly be witness to it? The witch and the victim. None other” (Miller 132). Danforth is saying that since there is no real proof, he must believe Abigail.

                So many people in the town are being accused even though they are completely innocent. During the time that this story takes place, the town of Salem has gone mad. The people believe silly stories of witchcraft just because a few girls claim it is true. The girls, led by Abigail Williams, have the most power in the town because they have this ability. They have the power to ultimately murder anyone in the town. Reverend Hale has affected the trials by saving some of the lives of innocent people that have been accused. Judge Danforth has also contributed to the Salem Witch Trials because he has the final decision on whether or not someone is a witch. These three people are responsible for the tragic acts that occurred in Salem. 

Crucible Post 2

     In act two of "The Crucible" Reverend Hale is going around to all of the houses in Salem to find witches. When he visits the Proctor home, he asks John Proctor if he believes in witches. John knows that there are witches in the bible, so therefore if he says that he does not believe in them, Hale will think that he does not believe in the bible. Instead of telling the truth, John tells Hale that he believes in witches. It saves him from further punishment, but does not prove that he has an honest personality. John’s Wife, Elizabeth, did the opposite. Because she is a truthful woman, she shared her belief with Hale that witches are not real. Sadly, this shocked Hale and eventually led her to being imprisoned. The fact that she stood up for herself shows that Elizabeth has integrity.

     If I was in this situation, I would follow Elizabeth’s example. Unlike John Proctor, I would tell the truth. It is important to stand up for what you believe in. Even if it is a risky situation, telling the truth shows that you are a truthful person. Our world needs truthful people as leaders. For example: If our founding fathers had never shared their opinions and stood up for their beliefs, what would our country be like today? It certainly would lack some of the genius ideas that it has. Honesty is a key element to making the world a better place. If a person were to act like John Proctor, they could avoid punishment, but their feelings would never be presented to people. Although Elizabeth was punished for sharing her belief, her opinion was expressed to the world.