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Character development introduction
Character development introduction
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John Proctor is a quiet man who has a secret that will turn into his downfall. Even though he has a family and owns a farm on the outskirts of town, he fails to keep his morals straight and eventually falls victim to his own lust. Because of the lust between John and Abigail, she starts a witch-hunt so hopefully she can have John all to herself, and get herself out of trouble. The hunt causes John to forget his pride and sacrifice himself for his family and his friends. By doing so he shows the whole village of Salem what it means to be a Puritan. In the play “The Crucible,” a victim of contradictory emotions, who fights for what is right and becomes a hero for the village of Salem, is a farmer, John Proctor.
In the historically accurate manner, John was around sixty years old when the Salem witch-hunt began. He was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1632, and was birthed to an established family of farmers, that would later become his occupation in Salem. His father left him a large estate in Ipswich, but in 1666 he moved to Salem and leased the most land, seven hundred acres or more directly south east of the village line. John is an honest and strong man, and he fights to keep his morals straight and the lie of witchcraft and overall is a pillar of strength.
When John is introduced in the play he has arrived into Salem to figure out what is going on. “What mischief here”(pg. 893) he asked Abigail Williams, but the only thing she told him was witchcraft and even then John got a hint that something was suspicious about what was happening with the girls in the town. When John and Abigail are alone before he is about to leave town, a discovery is made that he lusted with Abigail and that she still has feelings for John. In act two ...
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...rotected his family, protected his name, and fought against the lie of witches in the town of Salem. John Proctor has the true spirit of a Puritan.
In conclusion John Proctor is a man who fought for what he believed in and fought for others. If you look back on John’s role in the story, you see his many emotions.. He goes through feelings of anger, hate, love, justice, and guiltiness because he lusted against his wife. Throughout the book John tries to win back over his wife's favor as well as trying to regain his pride. He did so by sticking up for everyone and fighting the lie of witchcraft. The character of John shows us that you should stand up for what you believe in even though others don’t agree. He also shows us how we should live our life, and if we do something wrong apologize for what we did and make up for it. John did so by paying the ultimate price.
because children were thought of as the vice of god and they were pure of
John Proctor is a good man. He is a puritan, a husband, a citizen, and an all around valuable member of the community. All of this is represented by his name. The name of John Proctor could be considered his most prized possession. It is his most priceless asset. Proctor is very strong-willed and caring. He does not set out with any intentions of hurting anyone. He is a farmer and village commoner who is faced with incredible inner turmoil. He has committed adultery and had absolutely no intentions of joining in the witch trials. After his wife got involved and eventually was set free due to the fact that she was pregnant, he feels that he can't sit back and accept what is happening to the town. John Proctor is a good and noble man and because of this he believes that he can't be hanged and die a martyr when he has this sin blooming over him every waking moment.
Although John Proctor isn’t much of a pious man, he does choose to do the right thing in the end. He doesn’t go down to the level of Danforth, he stays truthful and prideful to himself. Not many people would confess to something if it meant they would be hanged or imprisoned for their actions, John Proctor did. These three personalities of John Proctor prove that he is an overall good man even if he made a few poor choices in his lifetime. He ultimately shows that everyone should be proud of who they are and always tell the truth because if you want to be successful, you must be true to
In essence, John Proctor was in fact a tragic hero, he successfully saved the life of his wife and children. His tragic flaw was that he chose lust over his family, which ultimately caused the series of events that occurred. He chose to die rather than to have his name ruined and for his wife to be punished for something that he did. He admitted to himself that he done wrong, and for that, he chose to end his
John Proctor is a very good man or he seems like a very good man. He is hardworking, nice guy, never lies or people thought he was that guy. In my opinion, he wants to be thought of a great guy and he is, but up until he makes a very bad life decision with Abigail. At one point he was possibly bored with his good wife, Elizabeth. As the book goes on, Abigail gains power in Salem and people that live there view her as a saint. John has no worry about what is happening in Salem. His reputation is good still, but his wife knows what he and Abigail did, but as nice as Elizabeth is she has forgiven him. When Abigail has power and she is running around Salem accusing people, she accused Mrs. Proctor. John goes to Salem, sees what is going on and talked to Abigail. John is mad, it was just Abigail and him alone, she confesses that she just wants to get John to
In other words he believes that the cannot be his true self when he has to abide by lies and not by his morals. He thinks there is to much mention of hell in God’s church and about the dangers to the community to implicit in all this talk of witch craft. He is caught in a web of moral dilemmas involving not only his own fate but that of his wife, his friends, and the entire Salem community. “John Proctor is the individual who must decide weather or not he will assert himself against an overbearing authoritarian government.” “His loyalty to his own beliefs - which do not include “golden candlesticks” for pulpits or “hellfire” sermons - are contradicted by Reverend Parris, so he resists the reigning authority and retreats to his farm.” But thus far his rebellion against the church really involves none but is own welfare, and that in no profound way.
John Proctor depicts a courageous individual with an image of a sincere and an honorable man, not only in minds of the Salem community, but also in his own. His death implies more than a “tragedy”, but rather a strong action that inspires and encourages citizens in Salem to follow his footstep for change. Proctor is frustrated at how the court for believing Abigail and not the innocents. He says, “My wife is innocent, except she knew a whore when she saw one! You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore!” (Act III). He is infuriated that the officials in the court believe the ridiculous pretenses and acting of the Salem girls, that everyone’s the belief in god seems to be deteriorating.
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.
The primary dramatic focus in the play The Crucible is the moral struggle of its protagonist, John Proctor. Certain characteristics of John Proctor's character and also the environment of the Puritanical Salem alleviated this problem for him. The main issues running through out the play are a series of dilemmas that John Proctor faces. The first and foremost of these is his guilt over his adulterous affair with Abigail Williams, the second his hesitation to testify against Abigail to bring out the truth and the third, his final decision to make the ultimate sacrifice.
In The Crucible, John Proctor, a farmer and village commoner, stood up for his principles. He had committed adultery and had absolutely no intentions of joining in the witch trials unless his pregnant wife were to also get involved. After his wife was accused of being a witch, he decides that he cannot accept the lie or the law any longer. Proctor is a good and noble man and because of this he believes at first he can't be hanged and die a martyr when he has this sin blooming over him every waking moment.
John Proctor is an honest, though harsh, man who is clearly the protagonist of The Crucible. Before the beginning of the play, John had an affair with Abigail Williams, a girl who worked in his household, which was abruptly ended when Elizabeth Proctor, John's wife, fired her. This event causes Abigail to desire revenge against Elizabeth while she still pines for John. Once the trials are well underway, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of being a witch, which leads to her arrest. John goes to the court in defense of his wife, where he reveals that he did indeed committed adultery with Abigail in an attempt to expose her as a fraud and a liar. Unfortunately, John's appeal falls on deaf ears and he is arrested as well. While his wife manages to get a temporary stay of execution, due to the fact that she is pregnant at the time of the trials, which in the end saves her by insuring her life until the chaos, hysteria, and persecution comes to an end, John is sentenced to death. The play ends with his hanging, but his death puts an end to the trials.
In the town of Salem, Massachusetts, John Proctor is a reputable man who despite conceals his unspeakable crimes, transforms to counter the
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.
To further complicate matters, John decides not to reveal to the court that Abigail has admitted to him in private that they were just sporting in the woods. Abigail spreads additional accusations and false rumors about her neighbors. These accusations have no basis in truth and their only purpose is for Abigail’s own benefit. Furthermore, Abigail is jealous of John’s wife, Elizabeth, and she schemes to get rid of her in order to take her place. Abigail’s plot is to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft.