John Proctor In The Crucible

“Oh John. Forgive me. I never knew such love in the world.” Elizabeth Proctor makes this proclamation to her husband in Act IV of The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, just as John is being sent off to his death. John Proctor—he is an amazing and complex man. It is good to note that Miller’s use of Proctor as a tragic hero was part of real-life history. Writers cannot make up such characters as complex as Mr. John Proctor. John is not the catalyst for the events that transpired in The Crucible; he is the climax. He propels all events because his response and Arthur Miller uses this complex man to teach us all something about ourselves.

The Crucible opens with the audience’s awareness that not only has John had an affair with a young girl, Abigail Williams, but that Abigail is not taking the end of their relationship lying down! Miller walks the audience through John’s struggles to mend his marriage with Elizabeth. The readers/audience is then invited to watch him confess his adultery in open court in front of Abigail. As Abigail’s own plans for revenge begin to crumble around her, John moves into the spotlight.

The courts in Salem have hanged several people.

Those who confess, ironically, are not hanged. The heads of court need a confession from John to help further the cause or at least prove that they were not flat wrong. John’s refusal to confess to witchcraft “strikes a chord.” Here we see this once quiet family man with his quiet sins thrust to the forefront of society for all to see. He will not be the town’s poster child. He did not die because he thought he was right. He refused to watch others die while he walked free. That would not happen. Miller uses John Proctor as an allegory for his own life and for his own

purposes.
Arthur Miller dragged the Salem witch trials out of the history books for a reason. He had been accused of being a communist, and he was watching people in Washington DC blame his friends. Miller never claimed to be Proctor in his own story, but he did use John Proctor show his audience how absurd it was to accuse such a “goodly man” of such an evidenceless crime. The courts in Salem did not begin by accusing the “big dogs” like John; who would believe such? But they did pick an opportune time to highlight certain people as hysteria began to escalate. Don’t we all do exactly the same thing?
Toes will be stepped on: bullies don’t start with the queen bee. The courts in Salem did not start with the most upright; instead, they accused the slave and the homeless. They are the pawns in the game. We need a John Proctor to say, “The first marvel is that I can [die]. Show a stony heart and sink them!” Stand up and be heard or die trying! Miller knew we needed a hero.