Read this passage from Act 4, Part 3, of The Crucible.
DANFORTH (instantly): You have heard rebellion spoken in the town?
HALE: Excellency, there are orphans wandering from house to house; abandoned cattle bellow on the highroads, the stink of rotting crops hangs everywhere, and no man knows when the harlots’ cry will end his life—and you wonder yet if rebellion’s spoke? Better you should marvel how they do not burn your province!
DANFORTH: Mr. Hale, have you preached in Andover this month?
HALE: Thank God they have no need of me in Andover.
DANFORTH: You baffle me, sir. Why have you returned here?
HALE: Why, it is all simple. I come to do the Devil’s work. I come to counsel Christians they should belie themselves. (His sarcasm collapses.) There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!!
How did Hale’s previous behavior in the play contribute to the moral dilemma he faces in this passage?
