How Does John Proctor Mature In The Crucible

he people of Salem all secrets and problems in their lives that are exposed or magnified

when witchcraft is spoken upon the town.One in particular, John Proctor, has to deal with

accepting his wrong doings and receiving forgiveness from those he’s hurt around him. All John

wants in life is to have and receive compassion and forgiveness for his transgressions.

John Proctor has spent his entire life trying to live up to the high expectations that the

church has to offer. But like many in Salem and around the world he falls short in certain

aspects of his life. For example his affair with Abigail Williams. In the beginning of the play we

see John struggling in his marriage and with himself because of his affair with Abigail Williams..

He even “wilted and, like a

Christian, [he] confessed,” his wrongdoings to Elizabeth. (Crucible
167 ) It seems almost that it has not fully registered with John just how much he hurt Elizabeth
with how he acts as if she can just get over the situation.

And though it annoys him that she

cannot get over it he’s continuously hard on himself for touching Abigail in that way.

John also struggles in his relationship with God. He knows he is a sinner and has

confessed to his sins but continues to be hard on himself. In John’s eyes no one will ever be

worthy enough to get into the kingdom of Heaven. He claims that, “evil has mixed with good

and befuddled the world,” because of how they have lived their lives sinfully on the earth.

(Crucible 186) The only way to ensure ones place is to be truthful and forgive others for their

transgressions.

After John has been accused of witchcraft it seems that everything that he’d been holding

inside finally spilled out. After he’d been separated from his wife and kids, beaten, and locked up

he reached his boiling point. No longer could he deal with all the lies and sneakiness. We see this

when he exclaims, “Leave me my name!” indicating that whether he is hung or set free he’d like

his name to be pure. (Crucible 211) He is absolutely fed up with the drama of the Salem witch

trials. It seems as though John is the only one who genuinely is concerned about how God

views
them. And in this moment it registers that he finally has accepted and understood God’s plan for
him, remain true.
John Proctor was overall a very good man. He made some mistakes along the way, but in
the end remained true to himself. In the he was willing to sacrifice his own life if it meant that he
would be pure in God’s eyes. In many ways we must strive to be like John Proctor. Unless we
learn to forgive and have compassion for ourselves then no one will.