Examples Of Morally Ambiguous Characters In The Crucible

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‘The Crucible’ is a great example of morally ambiguous characters. A plethora of characters with blurry ethics exist within the world of ‘The Crucible’, this makes it difficult to distinguish who is truly good and who is evil. Arthur Miller has a fantastic approach to how he displays his characters and their moral standpoints. Adultery, lying, and even the suspicion of witchcraft, within the community brings out the worst in the townspeople. John Proctor is an example of how thin the lines are drawn between a complete saint and a damned sinner.
Proctor has many character traits that contribute to him being so difficult to figure out. His crime of lechery against his wife, and his willingness to save her, are both intermixed in a tangle of ethics. After committing adultery with Abigail, John clearly has a guilty conscious. When …show more content…

The stage directions even say “as though a secret arrow had pained his heart” this proves that he feels horrible about deceiving his wife. Hale also questions John about why his third son is not baptized and John replies, “I like it not that Mr. Parris should lay a hand upon my baby. I see no light of God in that man. I’ll not conceal it.” This theme reemerges later in act two, when Cheever says “He plow on Sunday, sir.”, John says “I- I have no love for Mr. Parris. But God I surely love.” This proves that although John has not been the holiest he still believes in the gospel. John has also moved on from his act with Abigail. He develops a new maturity when he tells Abigail “...I will cut my hand off before I reach for you again.” John is

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