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Rev. John Hale vs. John Proctor The characters of John Hale and John Proctor
in “The Crucible” can be compared and contrasted according to their key traits,
goals, and tendencies to change. These characters are probably the two most
important characters in the play. They both are strong men mentally and are
proud of what they accomplish. Reverend John Hale and John Proctor can be
compared and contrasted according to their key traits. Reverend Hale is a man in
his late forties. He is intelligent and very proud. He believes that he earned
his titled as Reverend, the title was not only given to him. John Proctor is a
man in his mid-thirties and like Reverend Hale he is proud of what he does.
Proctor is also a man who is physically strong since he is always working on his
farm. He is a person who does not like hypocrites or frauds. He is also stubborn
and not easily led into things.
People respect him and fear him as well. These
two characters can also be compared according to their goals. Reverend Hale’s
goal is to save the citizens of Salem from being condemned to death and of being
accused of witchcraft. If someone is accused, Reverend Hale wants to get that
person freed and prevent them from an unnecessary death. John Proctor’s goal is
to first get his wife freed from jail after being accused of witchcraft. He also
wants to get Valentin Benitez himself free and wants Hathorne and Danforth to
see that there are no witches in Salem and that all the deaths that they have
created are unreasonable and irrelevant. They can be further compared and
contrasted by their tendencies to change. Reverend Hale usually is a straight
faced, stubborn man who stands for what he believes in. At the end of the play
he cries as John Proctor is taken off to be hanged before the whole village.
John Proctor was also a stubborn man that did not deny what he believed, but at
key times in the play he changed what he was saying and fighting for against the
court. He first said he did not practice witchcraft and had never seen the
Devil, but afterwards he said the opposite. He said that he was an evil person
and that he did practice evil acts. In Act Two he also went from saying that he
was a good man to finally confessing to being an adulterer and a lecher. The
more appealing character was John Proctor because through his stubbornness and
inflexibility he was a more interesting character. Proctor was a spontaneous
character at times also when he changed his arguments into confessions.
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