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Pride, greed, and jealousy are all inevitable human flaws we carry around in our day to day life. With each action influenced by such emotions, many different circumstances could arise. We see this first hand in “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller in which our tragic hero John Proctor sercums to his pride and ultimately inflicts his own downfall. During his life John was a well respected and influential individual within the town of Salem. From humble beginnings, John had been a farmer throughout his life and eventually married Elizabeth Proctor. He had three boys with Elizabeth, all whom loved their father dearly. While loving and caring to his family, John was also a stern man who wasn’t easily swayed. His words often resonated with those around
In life everything is about choices whether it is a serious choice such as moving place to place because of your parents career or it being like wanting to eat a muffin or apple for breakfast. In the Crucible written about the Salem 1692 witch trials, John Proctor is one of the main characters in the play. John is 35 years of age and is Married to Elizabeth Proctor. A concept we have to understand is in this era Witch accusations were always coming from different people to random innocent women and men. These accusations are obviously false, but due to what they believed in, and how strong they were in religion, witch trials became of it. All the choices people made during the Salem witch trials, were always looked upon corresponding to John and the choices he made.
First John Proctor is a tragic hero because he is loving and loyal . “I will bring you home. I will bring you soon” and “I will fall like an ocean on that court! fear nothing Elizabeth.” John says this when Elizabeth is brought to jail from their house. It shows the love he has for her and he will do anything for her to get her back home. John goes to the court to tell judge Danforth that Elizabeth is innocent and that Abigail is lying and wants Elizabeth murdered “I do, sir. I believe she means to murder.” John going to the court is showing his loyalty and love towards Elizabeth knowing she is innocent and never tell lies she always tell the truth. John says “In her life, sir, she has never lied. There are them that cannot sing, and them that cannot weep-my wife cannot lie. I have
Is there any idea worth more than a human life? In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor decides that he has nothing left to live for, and therefore becomes a martyr. The question for him or one in his position would be whether or not there exist causes worth dying for and if his position is one such case. There is no principle worth more than a person’s life and therefore principles worth dying for, only principles worth living for.
It is always shocking when someone that was generally well loved and respected is ruined. Because such people usually have few enemies, often times, the cause of their hardship is out of control hubris. Excessive pride can ruin even the most morally upright person by motivating them to do things they would never do unless they stand to lo. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller utilizes the prideful nature of John Proctor and Mary Warren to demonstrate how arrogance can lead to the downfall of any kind of person, whether they are a moral person or a social climber.
And so there goes a silly little man, bent by pride, forth to the gallows and whatever fate may await him beyond. Indeed, what legacy did John Proctor leave to his wife, left homeless, without a husband? What legacy did John Proctor leave his children, abandoned by their father in a fit of selfish vanity? What message was left for his children who would forever live in the knowledge that their father cared more for his good name than for his own sons and their welfare? What memory would he leave to the world which could not save him, what legacy to the world? There goes the silly little man, bent by pride, striding away from the family that needs him, towards his fate.
“It takes a man with real heart to make beauty out of the stuff that makes us weep.” –Clive Barker. Everybody makes mistakes, but only the people who recognize the good in those mistakes are the people who can be redeemed from them. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many characters are put in desperate situations. Each person learns new things and further develops from each experience. Proctor learns how important his name is, Hale experiences extreme guilt over his actions and Giles learns to think before he speaks. In conclusion, in desperate situations individuals who possess insight are able to experience redemption.
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, various characters, whether it is from physical trials or unseen personal struggles, experience some kind of major conflict. There are those who spend every day in fear, wondering whether or not they will be falsely accused of witchcraft. There are others who struggle with more internal trials, such as forgiving those who have hurt them. The protagonist, John Proctor, was a man of strong moral constitution, and held himself to a high standard for the sake of his good name and family. As a result of this, he struggled with a major internal conflict throughout the play.
In the play the “The Crucible”, by Arthur Miller there are many examples of weakness, courage and truth. As we read the play and watch it, we can see there is more weakness than courage, and more lies than truth. With John Proctor and Elizabeth Proctor there are things proctor has done to mess their relationship up, and make it cold instead of warm and loving. Abigail Williams also is making lies about seeing the devil, and she is making her father feel as if she is innocent, when she isn’t. This play poses more lies than truth, which makes us understand we should not lie, it draws unnecessary attention.
Towering above all in importance to Proctor was his upstanding reputation. Proctor was one of the most revered constituents of the town. As one might presume, one of Proctor’s decisions required him to break this record he held in high regard. One occurrence was his admission of lechery and adultery, committed with Abigail, to the Salem Court. He makes this known when—after Mary Warren revokes her statement on Elizabeth
John Proctor, the main protagonist of The Crucible, is a man of great pride and honor, who does his best to uphold all the values of the church. Unfortunately for John Proctor, his upright nature causes one mistake to haunt him throughout the story, his lust for Abigail. Though even his wife was able to forgive him for his lapse in judgement, his pride never let him forgive himself (II, 177-180). In fact, Proctor’s guilt kept him from leaving his home for seven months after the incident since he feared that seeing Abigail might cause him to commit further wrongdoings. It especially didn’t help that he felt he had no way to repent for his actions, because the Puritan faith had no system that forgave sins. Instead, the best he can do, is use willpower to keep himself from making any further mistakes and tries to be as careful as possible.
The tragic flaw that john endures during this Salem story is he commits adultery with his servant, Abigail. John tried to pretend the affair does not even happen, saying to Abigail, He wins the battle between himself and Abigail due to his respected reputation. Now, Abigail seeks to force revenge upon her ex-lover. Abigail successfully puts the sin out to the public and Elizabeth Proctor finds out, and their relationship goes downhill. Their connection also gets awkward and they barely link with one another. Elizabeth confronts him about it, and John gets asinine about the whole situation. They end on bad terms and act like they aren’t even husband and wife. This tragic flaw will soon backfire on John Proctor later.
John Proctor is a man of noble stature. He was not born into nobility, but he possesses the characteristics of a noble man. He is a highly respected man in the village of Salem, because he owns a large amount of land and is a good father. John does not
John Proctor may have not been born as of high status in any kingdoms, but he was very famous in his town for being the(“ wisest and maturest of all the people of Salem),” (bhatia). In the plays that Miller write (“for instance, his heroes, unlike the traditional tragic heroes, are not big or great people, but in matters of passions like love and jealousy, they are not too different from them),” (bhatia).
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, there are many themes concerning human actions and the driving forces behind them. Among the most prominent concepts represented in the play are courage, weakness, and truth. These concepts are seen in nearly all the characters through either a struggle for courage; an acceptance of, or escape from, weakness; or a fight against, or for, the truth.
Would one rather die honest or live a lie? In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Reverend Hale states that “no principle no matter how glorious” is worth dying for. Hale argues that it is better to give a false confession than to die for a principle of belief. However, the characters Giles Corey and Elizabeth Proctor would rather die for beliefs than to live with regret and guilt. Hale is correct that one should not die in the hands of an accusation but one would rather be stubborn and refuse to allow others to influence their beliefs then speak a lie that would undermine their morals. In a case of survival and self-greed, Parris and Proctor, are willing to put their morals aside agreeing with Hale’s statement. There is no right or wrong but through Giles Corey, Elizabeth Proctor, Proctor, and Parris the audience is shown that individual morals is the foundation to the statement made by Hale. As a result it test their true motives, beliefs, and characters.