A tragic hero is a great and noble character in a tragedy that has a tragic flaw. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays John Proctor as a tragic hero with a flaw. John Proctor’s tragic flaw was that he had an affair with Abigail, a 16year old girl who was a servant at Proctor’s house. Eventually, Proctor realized what he had done was wrong and decided to end his relationship with Abigail but soon this caused many other problems in Salam. Abigail, with a thirst of revenge, started the accusation of witchcraft in Salem and many were arrested including Elizabeth Proctor. John Proctor was heartbroken knowing that his wife has been falsely accused because of his mistake so he went to help her by confessing. John Proctor had an affair with Abigail but he ended the affair because he …show more content…
The court asked him why he wouldn’t sign and he says’’ Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because lie and I sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name’’ (143)! Proctor is saying that he has 3 children and if his name gives his name away then there won’t be any reputation left for them. He tells them that if he signs then it’s going to be a lie and he’s not as good as the people who got executed for not lying. John Proctor is a tragic hero. The tragic part comes from him having an affair will Abigail but he left her because he was ashamed for what he did and this led him to have problems. Abigail took revenge on him by accusing his wife of witchcraft. He’s a hero because he confessed to having an affair to save his wife from getting hang. He didn’t care for his reputation and honor that he’s been having in Salam. When John Proctor was asked to sign the confession he said that he would rather die than to lie again and that makes him noble and
Although John Proctor isn’t much of a pious man, he does choose to do the right thing in the end. He doesn’t go down to the level of Danforth, he stays truthful and prideful to himself. Not many people would confess to something if it meant they would be hanged or imprisoned for their actions, John Proctor did. These three personalities of John Proctor prove that he is an overall good man even if he made a few poor choices in his lifetime. He ultimately shows that everyone should be proud of who they are and always tell the truth because if you want to be successful, you must be true to
The Puritans had many values that everyone must know and completely obey. One of those values is to know, and obey the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were one of the most important things for all Puritans to know and obey, because without them there would be no order. For a Puritan not to know his Commandments by heart was nearly unheard of seeing how the Commandments are the basic rules for them. Although almost all of the Puritans knew the Commandments there were a few who didn’t know them all by heart. John Proctor was one of these who didn’t know them all by heart. Its not just the fact that he didn’t know them all by heart that lets him fit into the category of not being a good Puritan because he lacks the Puritan characteristic of knowing and obeying the Ten Commandments. One way he shows that he doesn’t obey the Ten Commandments is the fact the he rarely attends church anymore. This is breaking one of the Ten Commandments, ‘Thou shall remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy’ this Commandment states that on every Sunday you must attend church. Yet John doesn’t, which isn’t following what he should do. Another example of not obeying the Commandments is by having an affair with Abigail, who was his housekeeper and who happened to be eleven at the time. In committing this act he directly disobeyed the Commandment ‘Thou shall not commit adultery’. This Commandment states that when one is married to someone they should only be active among themselves. The finally way John shows that he is not a good Puritan is by not knowing all the Commandments when asked to say them by Mr. Hale. John says them all but adultery. These three things made John Proctor ‘an unworthy Christian’ by Puritan standards.
Overall, I believe that John Proctor is a good man who did have a slight moment of weakness. Generally, throughout the play, Proctor is seen as a good man whose character also has the right intentions throughout. Even though he had a moment of weakness he tries to make up for what he has done. He is also seen as the character who talks through wisdom and not Puritan and biblical teachings. The main reason I think he is a good man is because he admitted to witchcraft to stop lots of other people in Salem from being hanged. The character of Proctor is seen as good because he was also innocent just like the rest but thought that he should protect the others.
John Proctor: “God in heaven, what is John Proctor, what is John Proctor”. John is a man of strong moral beliefs, concerned only for the safety of his family and personal welfare. He cares of nothing for the beliefs of any of the other people in the town and what his supervisor which is the Reverend, thinks either. After trying to avoid involvement in the witch trials he is later prosecuted for witchery and sentenced to hang. John trys to avoid any involvement in the Salem witch trials. His reason for doing so is to protect his image because he is afraid he will be committed of adultery with Abigail Williams. Following these events he trys to save everyone’s lives by admitting to this horrible offense adultery and ends up losing the trial along with his life. He did have a chance to live but instead of signing away his name and his soul to keep his life, he wanted to die honorably with his friends not without a name, a soul, and with guilt. “John Proctors decision to die is reasonable and believable”. Reverend Parris, the Salem minister and Proctors immediate supervisor, which says “ there is either obedience or the church will burn like hell is burning.” “The church in theocratic Salem is identical with the state and the community and will surely crumble if unquestioning obedience falters in the least.” Proctor, on the other hand, “has come to regard his self as a king of fraud,” as long as he remains obedient to an authority which he cannot respect.
Greetings to all. I am Dillon Marshall, I’m here today presenting to you why John Proctor was an unfavorable and bad character in The Crucible. The story takes place in Salem Massachusetts in 1692. John Proctor a farmer who lived in Salem. Elizabeth Proctor’s husband. A hard, bitter tongued man, John a man who also hates hypocrisy. John Proctor also putting his marriage to the test having relations with Abigail Williams along with his wife creating a scandal. John Proctor wasn’t the man he proclaims to be.
In this town Salem will be forever corrupted… with this so called justice. Those who you have know and we're friends are aren't what they are anymore. The judges have no reason. Justice has vanished. There is no god in this place anymore. The people believe nothing but a liar. It is not Elizabeth's fault. It was I, John Proctor who has betrayed her. I shall be punished for the cause of such tragedy. I never wanted this to be. I was too careless and excited. Elizabeth deserves someone better than me, For I am nothing other than a deceiving husband. Everytime I look into her Hazel eyes, it reminds me of my flaws of a husband. I so ashamed. I shall redeem myself and be free from this chaos that I have started. Tomorrow I will be forgiven for my shame. Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. Today is my last. I John Proctor will be forgiven for the sins I sins I have made. Farewell.
John is heroic, because he deserves a good honor in the village, and he also attempts to save his wife and other people. But his tragic flaw—pride, is the main reason that he is hanged to death. If proctor refuses to have an affair with Abigail, or if he does not have that much of pride, he would have lived. Miller creates John Proctor as an example of showing people that a person, or a hero, will have his downfall if he has natural flaws and does not realize to change
Maya Angelou once wrote, “One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.” Having courage helps people get through hard times in life. Staying hopeful and having the courage will help people get there a situation. Courage helps people stay hopeful and feel safe. Throughout “The Crucible” many characters showed several acts of courage. In the play, “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, John Proctor stands out as a courageous character in the story.
John Proctor’s desire to keep his good name motivates him to make the heroic choice of going to his death without signing his name to an untrue statement. Proctor is the voice of reason whose integrity defines him and clearly distinguishes him as the protagonist. His honesty and acumen endows him with heroic qualities as we see him repeatedly being able to perceive the truth from the false and the moral from the corrupt when he claims that he “cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is fraud. [He] is not that man. [His] honesty is broke…” (136). The fact that Proctor doesn’t consider himself good enough to die as a saint like hero, makes him a hero. This is because his betrayal reveals his strong sense of self-reproach and morality, which intensifies his inability to forgive himself. In this statement
John Proctor is portrayed throughout the play to be a man who has high moral values that he must abide by. He can spot hypocrisy in others easily and judges himself no less harshly. Elizabeth Proctor says to him in the second act:
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the madness of the Salem witch trials is explored in great detail. Arthur Miller was an American playwright, who was born in 1915. He grew up in a Jewish family in New York City. While attending the University of Michigan in the mid 1930’s, he began to characterize himself as a distinguished writer. His first plays were Honors at Dawn and No Villain. The Death of a Salesman, which he wrote in 1949, won him the Pulitzer Prize for literature.
In essence, John Proctor was in fact a tragic hero, he successfully saved the life of his wife and children. His tragic flaw was that he chose lust over his family, which ultimately caused the series of events that occurred. He chose to die rather than to have his name ruined and for his wife to be punished for something that he did. He admitted to himself that he done wrong, and for that, he chose to end his
John Proctor is a very good man or he seems like a very good man. He is hardworking, nice guy, never lies or people thought he was that guy. In my opinion, he wants to be thought of a great guy and he is, but up until he makes a very bad life decision with Abigail. At one point he was possibly bored with his good wife, Elizabeth. As the book goes on, Abigail gains power in Salem and people that live there view her as a saint. John has no worry about what is happening in Salem. His reputation is good still, but his wife knows what he and Abigail did, but as nice as Elizabeth is she has forgiven him. When Abigail has power and she is running around Salem accusing people, she accused Mrs. Proctor. John goes to Salem, sees what is going on and talked to Abigail. John is mad, it was just Abigail and him alone, she confesses that she just wants to get John to
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, John Proctor, a proud and frustrated farmer of Salem, chooses to die rather than to give a false confession to witchcraft. Many might view this act as that of a selfless martyr; on the other hand, it can more readily be seen as the height of human stupidity in the face of vanity and pride.
John Proctor is a good man. He is a puritan, a husband, a citizen, and an all around valuable member of the community. All of this is represented by his name. The name of John Proctor could be considered his most prized possession. It is his most priceless asset. Proctor is very strong-willed and caring. He does not set out with any intentions of hurting anyone. He is a farmer and village commoner who is faced with incredible inner turmoil. He has committed adultery and had absolutely no intentions of joining in the witch trials. After his wife got involved and eventually was set free due to the fact that she was pregnant, he feels that he can't sit back and accept what is happening to the town. John Proctor is a good and noble man and because of this he believes that he can't be hanged and die a martyr when he has this sin blooming over him every waking moment.