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John proctor essay the crucible introduction
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Throughout history there have been many tales of heroes meeting a tragic end, but it’s the heroes who show us that they can defy all doubt who really deserve the spotlight. In Andrew Miller’s The Crucible the townspeople of Salem, Massachusetts are all riddled with doubt and the suspicion that the devil has sent witches to live among them. The man who is in the middle of it all though is John Proctor. Throughout the play, some characters try to blame John and the people around of witchcraft, leading him to deny all accusations and he ends up paying the ultimate price. Miller shows that John Proctor does not qualify as a tragic hero because even though he is riddled with pride and guilt, the end he takes is in no shape or form tragic. It is in a way, very beautiful. …show more content…
Proctor possesses some of the traits of a tragic hero, such as his noble like background that he has with the respect of the town.
In the town, John is a farmer and he is “respected and even feared in Salem…” (19). He has many friends, Giles Corey being one of his biggest supporters, and towards the end of the play he even gains the trust and respect of that of Reverend Hale. With the respect of the Reverend, people start to see John in a different light. People start to think he is innocent and you can see that at the end of the play even Reverend Parris, who was against John from the start, says to Elizabeth, “Go to him, Goody Proctor! There is yet time” (134) when he denies the accusations and is sentenced to die. John had so much respect in the town, even the ones who disliked him the most couldn’t stand to see his life taken for something he didn’t
do. Another tragic hero trait that John possesses is that his downfall was brought upon him because of his affair with Abigail and that he had to much pride to come out and say it before all of the events in the play went down. The main reason Abigail started all of the madness was because she wanted to get rid of Elizabeth, and have John all to herself: “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife” (18). If John had told the town sooner about what he did instead of keeping on the guilt, the people would have realized that Abby was lying to get Elizabeth dead. John Proctor has most of the traits that align with a tragic hero, but the trait that is most important into that of being a tragic hero is the tragic death, and John’s death just isn’t tragic. Most tragic heros all die on a terrible and miraculous way, but John’s death almost makes up for his sins. He goes against the court and refuses to have seen anybody with the devil trying his best to spare them: “They think to go like saints. I like not to spoil their names” (130). And when he is asked to sign his own confession he instead tears up the paper in defiance of the court: “Proctor tears the paper and crumples it” (133). This shows that even after all the John is been through he doesn’t choose to live his life as a lie and instead show the people who have wronged him what he really is. John is on no way way a tragic hero. He possesses many of the traits of one, but just doesn’t go out like one. To be a tragic hero, you have to end tragically. John’s death was what this play was leading up to the whole time, so it’s only fitting that the ending be as meaningful and beautiful as it was.
My character is John Proctor. John was accused for witchcraft mostly because he spoke against the witch trials and stated that the girls who were “possessed”, were liars and frauds, setting everything up to accuse other villagers of witchcraft. He also couldn’t remember the 10 commandments by heart, and didn’t attend Church regularly, only coming once a month. Another piece of “evidence” for him being a witch was that he apparently plowed on Sundays, which back then, was considered a high offense.
The Crucible (Argumentative Essay) Is John Proctor a good man? John Proctor, in my opinion, is indeed considered a good man. And the reason why I say this is to inform you that in The Crucible, John faces a lot of conflicts with his wife, the church, and his individuality. The way John Proctor deals with these conflicts defines him as a true good man character, for example Elizabeth (Proctor’s Wife) always knew he was a good man in heart. She would have the courage to stand by Proctor’s side when they were in court “I do not judge you”.
In John Proctor’s sudden confession of committing adultery, Miller used strong ethos and pathos to help further his agenda. He used disinterest, a rhetorical ethos device, to show that he reluctantly confessed for the greater good. By casting away his reputation, he made a personal sacrifice to show that his revelation helped the people of Salem more than it helped him. Throughout the play, Proctor concealed his disloyalty to his wife from the public; however, he finally came to terms with his sin to save Elizabeth and other innocent people from the trials. John used a rhetorical tool called the reluctant conclusion during his confession, which is blatant by the uneasiness/hesitancy he displayed. John Proctor lost his credibility and appeared
Arthur miller constructed some courageous characters throughout his play The Crucible. John Proctor is thought of as a good man who lusted at one point however earned back his goodness. The one with the greatest amount of courage would have to be John Proctor. Although he had made some poor decisions, he didn’t shy away from them like the rest of the village did. He did what all the others were too afraid to do. Most people would say that Giles Corey was the most courageous because he didn’t confess to witch craft either, but in addition to not confessing John Proctor also went against what Abigail was saying because he knew why she was doing it.
“ I say- I say- God is dead!” Yells John Proctor as Danforth asks him if he will confess himself to hell. John Proctor lives in Salem, his wife has been accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams who John Proctor had an affair with. A short while after Elizabeth is accused, John Proctor also gets accused by Mary Warren.
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.
This creates tension in the home between John and Elizabeth Proctor. “You were alone with her?” Elizabeth says, John responds “for a moment alone aye” “why then it is not what you told me”.(222) This angers John because he is floating in his guilt for being unfaithful to his wife. Its builds a strain on their marriage and keep the couple in a cold house. Proctor has been faith full to his religion, only attending church only once a month. These actions put more reason for people to suspect that john is participating in witchcraft. “I am no good man. Nothing's spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before.”(239) John is selfish by going with the lie saying, he participated in witchcraft than to confess and say he didn’t to be with his wife and his unborn child. John lived in a lie and he Salem government took his life from
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.
A tragic hero is a noble man who commits a fatal flaw. The hero’s downfall is a result of their choices which leads to a punishment that exceeds the crime. “The difference between Proctor and Willy Loman is enormous; the former is the rather typical tragic hero who is defiant to the end, the latter is trapped in submission and is living a lie” (McGill 4). John Proctor is one of the main characters in The Crucible. he is married to Elizabeth Proctor and they live in Salem. In Arthur Miller’s famous play, The Crucible, John Proctor represents a classic tragic hero because he is a well respected man of noble stature, he is conflicted because of his fatal flaw, and his downfall is a result of his own choices.
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.
There are many sides to John Proctor and they occur at different stages of the play, John is a complex character and is very well respected even though he has done wrong things. Arthur Miller was in the same situation as John Proctor in 1956-57 because he refused to give names of people he saw at communist meetings. There was the same trial system. If you confessed you would stay alive assuming you had turned from the communist meetings, however if you denied that you were seen at communist meeting you would have been hanged because there would be no evidence to show you weren’t there. You get the impression that the character of John Proctor was based on the real life character of Miller.
The Crucible – John Proctor the Tragic Hero What is a tragic hero? The most well known definition of a tragic hero comes from the great philosopher, Aristotle. When depicting a tragic hero, Aristotle states "The change in the hero's fortunes be not from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery, and the cause of it must not lie in any depravity but in some great error on his part." In addition, he explains the four essential qualities that a tragic hero should possess, which are goodness, appropriateness, lifelike, and consistency. All of these necessities help to classify the character of John Proctor in Arthur Miller's The Crucible as the tragic hero of the play.
Herrick’s big and muscular body enters followed by the poor, lifeless Elizabeth. She is hauled with immense power by Herrick. Her weak wrists are shackled with heavy iron chains that have been deteriorating her body for months. She’s not only pregnant but also struggling to survive this “Witch” Apocalypse. In a cell in Salem jail, Danforth, Hathorne, Parris and revered Hale stand in the middle of the room. As Herrick releases Elizabeth from her manacle, Danforth commences to say how her life is not at risk, but her husband’s life is. Hale proceeds to recite her bad news.
Death, destruction, lies, Betrayal, lust, and tragic heroes are all things found in great novels and plays, and The Crucible fits all of these characteristics. People would like to disagree, saying that there was no tragic hero in Salem Village, but I am not one of those people. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible John Proctor, an innate leader moves from being a well thought of man in his village to being thought of, and hanged for, being the devil's follower. I am going to prove this in 3 paragraphs Hubris and Nemesis, Anagnorisis, and Hamartia and Catharsis.
In Arthur Miller’s the Crucible this story is based in a Puritan community in which it depicts the Salem witch trials and all of the horror it has caused. This story is true that it is about people that even with many flaws, one can also be a hero in his/her own unique way. A person can truly be a hero even if they have flaws. This position is correct because there are many public figures who have flaws, but they are still described as heroes in the public’s eyes. Man can be a hero despite flaws; today I am going to talk about John Proctor, Giles Corey and Reverend Hale.