John Proctor's Reputation In The Crucible

There are three characters that are concerned with their reputations. John Proctor has

pride and is willing to sacrifice his life for his name. Reverend Parris is insecure about his

position because of his daughter. Parris is afraid she is bewitched which would humiliate him.

Judge Danforth knows he is hanging innocent people, but won’t postpone the trials to keep his

name respected. These characters face many complications and struggles but want to keep

their good reputation to maintain the high standards in Puritan society.

John Proctor is a tormented individual who is concerned about his reputation. He is

uncertain to tell the court about the affair he had with Abigail Williams, because it would

reveal his affair with Abigail,

which would ruin his reputation because that means he broke

one of the Ten Commandments. John cared about his name, he thinks that’s the only thing he

has left of him, “…Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name

nailed upon the church!” (Miller 142). John Proctor does not want his name posted in public

because it would ruin his reputation. He also says, “Because it is my name! ...How may I live

without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (143). He tore up the

confession paper he signed and was hanged because he didn’t want his name to be out in

public. This affects how he acts because he hides the truth and is tormented between Abigail

and Elisabeth his wife.

It would also affect his death because if he hadn’t cared about his

reputation as much then he would of survived.

Reverent Parris is concerned about his reputation as well. He doesn’t want to tarnish his

name. In The beginning of the chapter, Parris isn’t too confident about his job, as a Reverent.

He’s insecure about his position because he is afraid that his daughter would bewitch which

would humiliate him. Parris was a holy man. He knew some of the people are not guilty

during the end of the trials. He can’t confess that the accusation was false because Parris

would get in serious trouble. Parris is known for his religious belief, the people conceder him

as a good man. If Parris loses this respect, he would be destroyed and can’t do anything to

gain his trust back. This affects how Parris acts because he continued to lie instead of freeing

all the innocent people and telling the truth.

Judge Danforth he too is concerned about his reputation. He is known for his decision-

making skills. Later on Danforth realizes that he is hanging innocent people that shouldn’t be

hanged. Regrettably he sentenced too many people; once he realizes that Abigail is putting

on

a show he thinks Abigail should be questioned. He can’t tell the truth that he killed innocent

people and was mistaken in his accusation. Danforth would be questioned in his conclusion

and of course lose his job as judge. Performing wrong actions in puritan society is defective,

so if he makes a mistake in his accusation there would be consequences. This effects how

Danforth acts because if he weren’t ashamed to reveal what he had been doing was wrong

then innocent people wouldn’t have been killed for any reason.

There are many characteristics that connect the three characters together. What John

Proctor, Reverend Parris and Judge Danforth all have in common is they care about their

reputation and want to maintain their honorable names. John Proctor would have saved his life

if he had his confession paper posted on the church door, but instead sacrificed his life to save

his name. If Reverend Parris had confessed about all the innocent people he blamed, they

wouldn’t have been through the criticizing and threatening talks. Parris wasn’t truthful neither

to himself nor to others. Judge Danforth also accused people for the sake of his reputation he

knew what he was doing was wrong but continued anyways and people got into harsh

punishments and death as well just to save his self from the consequences.

A good name is more important then the truth because having a good name is satisficing

and pure in the Puritan society. There were many harsh punishments that people were facing

that were trying to get out of. If you are respected you will be safer because it means you have

high standards in the Puritan society. Most of the people basically lied in the puritan

community everyone wanted a safe way out because a lot of things people did were

considered bad like reading anything other then the bible, holidays were banned, running in

the forest, and more. Even if some told the truth there was innocent people murdered either

way. Parris and Danforth lied to preserve their names and didn’t get penalized as for Proctor

he told the truth but he sacrificed his life for his name. The difference between the three

characters is Parris and Danforth were still alive while John died for doing what he thought

was right. Maintaining a good name is key in the Puritan society.