for being a witch.We know, as the Proctors know, what Abigail is up to. Whatever her motivation, she stuck that needle in her belly herself. But how do we know? First, by circumstantial evidence: we saw Mary Warren give the poppet to Elizabeth just moments before Hale arrived. Elizabeth hasn't left the room since then, so if she had stuck the needle in the poppet, we'd have seen her. More important, we know Abigail Williams--what kind of person she is, what she wants--and we believe she is capable of trying to frame Elizabeth.Hale is in the dark on both these points. When he entered the Proctors' house for the first time in his life, that poppet was sitting on the mantelpiece and could have been there for years for all he knows. As far as he's concerned, Abigail Williams is what he sees every day in court: a young girl writhing in agony on the floor, suffering so hideously that it breaks his heart and fills him with rage against her tormentors.For all his learning and keen intelligence, the Reverend John Hale also has a tender heart, and it is this, if anything, that makes him falter now. It's hard for him to believe that women of such spotless reputation as Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey could be witches. It means, as he says, that "nothing's left to stop the whole green world from burning." But he can't discount the possibility. He's seen too many "wonders" in court.And the alternative is appalling. To believe Proctor is to "charge a cold and cruel murder on Abigail." This is why, when Mary Warren tells him the real story of the poppet, he asks her, "May it be, perhaps, that someone conjures you even now to say this?" It's a reasonable question; he's seen it happen in court. Mary answers, "Why, no, sir, I am entirely myself, I think," and adds that Abby saw her make the poppet and stick the needle in. This is troubling information, but Hale is too uncertain of himself among these strangers; he dare not leap to the conclusion that is s...
