
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. 
<br><br><b>Bibliography</b><br><br>
n/a
<br><br>
Words: 449
