Inside the Minds of the Characters In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, we are introduced to two totally different characters. The first character we meet is Abigail Williams, an orphaned girl who has caused trouble in their small town. Since Abigail is a delinquent, Reverend Hale, the second character, is called to the city to make amends and free them from the "devil". Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In The Crucible, Abigail Williams is a one-dimensional character, a character who remains the same throughout the plot. Over the course of the game, you begin to see Abigail's mental illnesses take shape. Although Miller does not claim to be mentally ill, she uses contextual clues to slowly piece together her life. Miller led us to believe that Abigail suffers from schizophrenia, “a mental disorder that makes it difficult to: distinguish between what is real and what is not real; think clearly; have normal emotional responses; act normally in social situations” (National Library of Medicine). Many scenes, including the one where he shows no remorse when he accuses innocent people and they are sentenced to death, indicate that he suffers from schizophrenia. Abigail also appears to suffer from psychosis, "a loss of contact with reality that usually includes: false beliefs about what is happening or who you are (delusions), seeing or hearing things that are not there (hallucinations)" (National Library of Medicine). You see it at pretty much every point in the show. At first you think she really sees these things and that the devil is real, then John Proctor helps us understand that she is pretending. Either she's a really good actress, or she really was suffering from psychosis. Reverend Hale, a kind-hearted man, begins to get to the bottom of all this nonsense. First he claims that it is witchcraft and all the girls started saying that they saw other citizens with the devil. Hale felt wonderful. he was opening this young girl's eyes to the Lord! They admitted that they were wrong and therefore were spared by giving up those who were accompanied by the devil. Hale believed he was doing the right thing. Do God's work here on earth for him. Rid the world of witches. As the show continues, Hale begins to see things as they really are. In Act II, he goes to the Proctor house and warns them that John Proctor's wife has been taken to court by none other than Abigail Williams. After Proctor told Hale that Abigail admitted to him that they were just playing sports and weren't really summoning spirits, Hale soon saw the truth. Anyone who claimed to see the devil or spirits were all lying. As he put the pieces of the puzzle together, he saw that anyone who accused someone of witchcraft would actually gain something when that person was hanged. No one could get off this path without losing something. If you denied being a witch you were hanged, if you admitted it you were punished, but you stayed alive. Hale realized this, but had no idea how to fix it. He could not approach the court because he had no evidence and they would think he was doing the devil's work by letting all the accused off the hook. His hands were tied. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Reverend Hale grew up on the show. He learned. Hale was blind during the entire performance. He thought God was revealing everything to him, but instead he was fooled. Although there is nothing wrong with Reverend Hale mentally, he is very naive and allows himself to be influenced by.