John Hale, a Change in Heart

In Act 2 of The Crucible, Hale investigates the ones being accused of witchcraft. He goes to various houses to talk to the families and to understand why some are accused. When Hale goes to see the Proctor family, he comes upon a revelation. Hale talks to John and Elizabeth; he asks them to list the Ten Commandments. Unlike Goody Osborne, who didn’t know any of her Commandments and was accused of witchcraft, John was able to name nine of the ten, and Elizabeth was able to name the last one. Ironically, the one that John could not recall was “thou shall not commit adultery,” which was the one he committed with Abigail.
Within a few minutes, Elizabeth is arrested for accusations of witchcraft. During Hale’s encounter with John, John said two things that affected Hales belief in the presence of witchcraft. John said that if the accused did not confess, they would always be hanged, but if they did confess, they would not be hanged. He also asked Hale, “Why do you never wonder if Parris is innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem—vengeance is walking Salem.” By John saying such, Hale comes to believe that that the accused may in fact be guilty themselves. However, by now, Hale also understands that the decisions of the trials are out of his power, and he may not be able to influence the decisions the court makes.