Reverend Hale contributes to the emotional fever of the end of the act by completely believing the girl's confessions. Reverend Hale was called in order to investigate the claims of witchcraft. However, he was so dominated by his belief in witchcraft that he failed to realize that the claims were false. Instead, he adds to the hysteria by praising God and deciding to believe the girls, which precipitates the tragedies that came afterwards.