John Proctor's Ethos In The Crucible

In John Proctor’s sudden confession of committing adultery, Miller used strong ethos and pathos to help further his agenda. He used disinterest, a rhetorical ethos device, to show that he reluctantly confessed for the greater good. By casting away his reputation, he made a personal sacrifice to show that his revelation helped the people of Salem more than it helped him. Throughout the play, Proctor concealed his disloyalty to his wife from the public; however, he finally came to terms with his sin to save Elizabeth and other innocent people from the trials. John used a rhetorical tool called the reluctant conclusion during his confession, which is blatant by the uneasiness/hesitancy he displayed. John Proctor lost his credibility and appeared

to be less virtuous to the people of Salem after his confession; therefore, the confession harmed his ethos. This is ironic because John valued nothing more than his good name/reputation, so it was shocking to witness him destroy his credibility during the trial. Miller’s use of a dodged question towards Abigail portrays that she is an unreliable character with poor ethos, for she failed to respond to Danforth’s question with a direct answer. It exemplifies the ideal that she is not truly disinterested in the trials, and that her prime motive is revenge. Miller framed history because people were not truly disinterested during the Communist trials, and they used the mania to blame innocent people/confess to save themselves from social ruin. People such as John Proctor who refused to support the unwarranted hysteria were eschewed/blacklisted and faced punishment.
John Proctor’s decision to hang rather than to make false accusations symbolized the innate benevolence of his character.

During a time when Salem was overrun with witchcraft hysteria, very few people were resilient enough to stay devoted to their religion/morals. Miller frames history by demonstrating how a few individuals were devoted enough to combat the communist trials regardless of the consequences. Since the confession required John to blame another person in Salem of committing witchcraft, he chose to hang instead of betraying his comrades, for he did not want to fuel the witchcraft hysteria/blacken his name. Ethos were of high importance to Proctor and he valued his character above all else. He used an ethos tool called screw up recovery to enhance his character through his own errors. By describing how he failed to meet his own high moral standards throughout the play, Proctor corrected the mistakes he made and he appeared to be a highly virtuous character to the audience. Miller depicts John Proctor as a hero because he was able to rise above the trials/actively defy them. Although John intended to make a false confession to spare his life, he refrained from blaming his innocent friends such as Rebecca Nurse; therefore, his confession did not count and he was sentenced to hang. Proctor uses a logos tool called reduction ad absurdum to prove to Hale and Danforth that making a false confession is absurd/illogical; therefore, he justifies his decision to hang. He

also used a logos device called inflexible insistence on the rules when he declined to be swayed by Hale’s argument to confess. He used the “voice of god” technique and refused to consider the other side of the argument, because he was content with his decision. The progression of Proctor’s character from the start of the play to the end shows tremendous spiritual growth and maturity, so Miller was skillful in developing his ethos, logos, and pathos.