The Crucible 67-81

Quote 1:
Hale: "Man, remember, until an hour before the Devil fell. God thought him beautiful in Heaven" (Miller 71).

Analysis 1:
What Hale professes is a complete deconstruction of God. God is a perfect being. He is not a mythological Greek God, who is is like a human with magic powers. Hale's word choice suggests that God can be fooled. Hale is hiding behind his contorted book knowledge to justify his neutral suspicion. If God was not perfect why then would we need him? The truth is, God was not fooled. Hale is the fool for suggesting it, especially as a clergyman.

Quote 2:
Cheever: "You've ripped the Deputy Governor's warrant, man!" [...] "Pontius Pilate! God will not let you wash your hands of this!" (Miller 76-77).

Analysis 2:
Proctor uses religous justification in the correct way. Unlike Hale, Proctor states biblical law and does not offer his own interpretation. Hale uses his religion to try and calm Proctor, for no other reason than to surpress him to deal with the issue later. By drawing the parellel between Cheever and Pontious Pilate (with biblical fact) he is demonstrating that his society is commiting an injustice on a catastrophic level. Proctor's resolution is to save his wife, this was made lucidly clean to Mary Warren and show society the hysteria they have fallen into.