The Crucible
internal conflicts
hi i need to do a paper proving the quote "one must have courage to be true to one's self" using at least four literary devices.
hi i need to do a paper proving the quote "one must have courage to be true to one's self" using at least four literary devices.
Reverend Hale's battle is initiated by his personal commitment to God. In Act I, the
Reverend is described as an eager-eyed intellectual pondering the invisible world. Hale seeks
witches and gets them to confess, so god can bless them and rid them of the devil. An example of
this is when he said to Betty, "In nomine Domini Sabaoth sui filiique ite ad infernos," which
means: In the name of the lord of hosts and his son get thee to the lower world. This shows
Reverend Hale's views on witchery. He is a deeply religious man who was unrelenting in his
quest for the devil. Originally, Hale believed that there was witchcraft in the town and wanted to
drive it out. However as the play develops, Hale witnesses sincere and respectable townspeople
being sentenced and hanged. Hale tries to gain a perspective on those accused, by going to their
houses and putting questions to them, about their nature and religious behavior. He soon learns
that the court proceedings, lead by Judge Danforth were sending innocent people to their death,
in the name of Christianity. Here begins the Reverend's inner turmoil. With scrutiny, he looks at
himself and tries to figure out which way to go. Should he continue with what he is doing and
listen to Judge Danforth or should he listen to his conscience? He does try a feeble attempt to
talk to Danforth and explain how the unjust the court actions are, but again, his inner struggle
pulls him back to a more moderate stand. Hale then decides to persuade the wrongly accused to
confess witchcraft. At least this will save them from death by hanging. He preaches perjury to
the people, even though this is also against their religion. Hale's principles were ridden with guilt
and sadness because of his struggle with himself. Not only does Hale question himself, and
Danforth, but he questions his religion. Near the end of Act IV, Hale tells Elizabeth that
following religion is not worth it if religion can justify the death of so many innocent people
without credible evidence. This is the ultimate reproach, and Hale ends up leaving after the
hangings, with the weight of 19 innocent people (including the good names of Rebecca Nurse,
Martha Corey and John Proctor,) dead, which rests somewhat on his shoulders.
John Proctor a farmer and village commoner is similarly faced with an inner turmoil. He,
as well as Giles Corey and Rebecca Nurse became very prominent people and were respected in
Salem. Because of his role in the court cases, John gained respect. John also earns the respect of
the older members of the community, with his involvement of building the Salem church "I
nailed the roof upon the church, I hung the door." John Proctor is considered an honest man, but
few know that he is guilty of adultery with his former teenage servant, Abigail Williams. This
compromises his honesty in the eyes of his wife, Elizabeth. This also causes John to view
himself as a sinner and as someone unworthy of the respect he is given, especially when John
searches himself at the end of the play, crying "What is John Proctor?" Even though he gives
great importance to his public appearance, John Proctor has a very low view of himself and his
worth as a human being, which affects many of his decisions in the outcome of the play. "I
cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man. My honesty is broke
Elizabeth; I am no good man." He was fully aware of his immoral actions and the enormity of
the problem. Once he though this problem has vanished, it came back to slap him in the face.
Abigail decided to call John's wife Elizabeth, a witch, which in turn spurs conflict and anger
among the townspeople. Proctor then gets involved in these witch trials and claims to be with the
devil. His inner struggle is whether or not to tell the truth or fake a confession to save his own
life. He is confused as to which way to go and his main obstacles are firstly his pride and
secondly not being a party to implicating his innocent friends for similar crimes.
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