Hale and Cheever

[hadobos38]

As established in class discussion, Reverend Hale is depicted by Miller as a good character on the wrong side of the argument. Prior to the end of Act III he is a firm believer in the church and witchcraft, however it is not for personal gain in the consensus as it is for Parris, Abigail and the Putnams. On page 72 we meet Ezekiel Cheever who "fears Proctor," but has a warrant to arrest Elizabeth. In Act III, page 103, he tells Danforth "When I spoke with Goody Proctor in that house, she said she never kept no poppets. But she said she did keep poppets when she were a girl." He is very contradictory in his dialogue, both defending Elizabeth and selling her out. This has me wondering whether he is like a previous Hale; good on the wrong side of the argument. Or is he following the church/court for personal gain? Any other reasons?

[edhan38]

From the quote that you stated made by Cheever, I interpreted as Cheever attempting to sell out Elizabeth, not defending her. In the first sentence, he is only repeating what Elizabeth had said, but that does not necessarily mean that he believes her. It is evident that he is accusing her in the second sentence because he is showing the contradiction in her defense. He is showing that there is a contradiction in what Elizabeth has said, therefore undermining her credibility.
Thus I believe that Cheever does not have good intentions, like Hale. However, I am not sure whether he is trying gain profit from the situation, or whether he is merely stating facts in light of the situation (because what he says is, in fact, correct). Perhaps he is simply a believer in witchcraft, like many others, so he naturally sides with the accusers because he is suspicious of those that are accused. On the other hand, there might be some benefit to gain by selling out Elizabeth. He might earn some respect/credibility from Danforth by providing evidence that supports the accusation, and thus maybe getting promoted in some way, but that speculation seems pretty unlikely to me.
Thoughts?

[madanie35]

Cheever, in the beginning of the play, is portrayed to be one of the weaker characters in Salem. When the court appoints him to arrest townspeople for wirchcraft, he all of a sudden, seems to be more powerful. Therefore, one can conclude that he wants to gain more power in the town by doing what the court tells him to. Its true that what he is saying is true (the discovery of the needle in the poppet- pg. 74), but on pg. 72, when Giles says he'll go to hell for working for the court, Cheever responds saying that he didnt like the "sound of" going to hell and that he didnt think that what he was doing was bad. I believe it could be either way. As said before, he could be an unaware character on the wrong side, but I, as a reader, like to believe that he's doing it for personal gain.

[saseitz38]

I also believe that Cheever is out for personal gain. Once he is appointed "clerk of the court" (Miller 72), he becomes all business. He goes to Proctor's house and says "Mr. Proctor, i have little time. The court bid me search your house, but i like not to search a house. So will you hand me any poppets that your wife may keep here?" (Miller 73). Thus, Cheever comes to the house with a new sense of power and purpose. He continues to embrace this power throughout Act III, expressing to Danforth that it is his "duty" to offer evidence against Proctor (Miller 90). Although this evidence is true, it seems that Cheever's biggest concerns are fulfilling his newly appointed role and making his mark in society. He wishes to contribute as much as he can to the witch trials so that he can become more accepted in the consensus.