John Proctor Internal Conflict

The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, often depict characters that hold a high position of honor. These characters get swallowed by selfishness just to maintain their position of respect, but one stands out, during the Salem Witch Trials John Proctor goes against the flow of events. Having his own perspective on the trials, Proctor sees through the lies, he becomes a victim of them and ends up choosing death over life. Yet, before making that choice, Proctor is forced to fight through dilemmas. The theme of internal conflict reveals itself throughout the play as Proctor finds his place in the Salem Witch Trials.

Firstly, one will see two contradicting viewpoints foreshadowing John Proctor’s futures. One of these depicts a man standing in a thunderstorm. This part of the graphic symbolizes the tragedy of telling lies and making the choice to live. The thunderstorm sets a gloomy mood and evokes a sorrow emotion. Proctor has the option of telling a lie, ending up living a life of misery and losing his name and honor. A characteristic conveyed of John Proctor is that he is prideful, which creates internal conflict for him.

Proctor wants to make his points seem and go down with honor instead of succumbing to the dream of living. The conflict based around this event is whether or not he shall choose a life of lies or a death of honor.

The second image depicts the other perspective of his conflict, which more closely represents the outcome of the play.

A perfectly sunny day, no clouds in the sky, and it seems as if everything is untroubled. Down at the bottom, on this cheerful day, there is a man, who symbolizes John Proctor, being hung. The reason for the delightfully warm colors is that in this scene the conflict contained within Proctor has been solved. Understanding his role in the witch trials, Proctor accepts a death of honor. The conflict which lies between the life of misery and death of honor creates a troubling chain of events. These events lead to the end of Salem Witch Trials all because Proctor made this choice. His internal conflicts with Abigail, with his wife, and his pride all come to a resolution as soon as he forgives himself and accepts things they

are.

Finally, at the bottom of the page, there is a quote which reads, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies!” (Miller). I chose this quote from The Crucible because it is one of the last claims Proctor makes in order to defend his choice. Representing his pride in his name and the honor it holds, Proctor chooses to defend it and here he explains that he cannot lie to himself. Internal conflict is a huge struggle for Proctor. Once he is able to forgive himself for all the sins he has committed, such as adultery with Abigail, trading out his wife, and living in lies Proctor finds a solution. The entire literary graphic represents his main internal conflict of life or death, the two illustrations create the future of Proctor and the quote represents the resolution. Overall the two possible futures represent the idea that Proctor was a man of honor and that his conflict piled up on him just to lead to the end of The Salem Witch Trials.