The Crucible - How John Proctor Changed

The Crucible - How John Proctor changed throughout the storyline from

mistreating his wife by cheating on her while she was ill with Abigail,

to someone who took the blame so no one else got in trouble.

The Crucible

In this essay I will talk about how John Proctor changed throughout

the storyline from mistreating his wife by cheating on her while she

was ill with Abigail, to someone who took the blame so no one else got

in trouble.

The Crucible is based on the true story of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials

where people were hanged if they were accused of being a witch. All of

them were innocent and wrongly hanged. Arthur Miller has changed some

of the play so it would be easier to write about like the girls in

crying out has been reduced and Abigail's age has been raised. There

were also 7 judges of equal authority which has all been symbolized in

Hathorne and Danforth.

The story starts out with a group of girls who were caught dancing in

the woods by Reverend Parris. He also saw one of them naked in the

woods. Next morning Betty falls ill and Parris keeps asking what's

wrong with her and what did Abigail do to her. He asks about the devil

and Abigail sees this as an opportunity to blame people for being

involved with the devil and getting her own back on people. We then

see people coming into the house and leaving. Abigail tells all these

people who she saw with the devil. Later on we get introduced to John

Proctor who was respected in Salem and even feared. He is in his

middle thirties and was a farmer. Then in Act2 John Proctor sits down

to dinner with his wife, Elizabeth. Mary Warren, their servant, has

gone to the witch trials, disobeying Elizabeth's order that she remain

in the house. Fourteen...

... middle of paper ...

...eople were acting quickly. At

the beginning everybody speaks with the same dialect. He uses goody

for names which is short for good wife. And people call each other

with mister and miss. This all contributes to the feeling of a

different society. Distanced not only by time but by the way it

communicated.

While we was reading it in class, there was some people who thought

that John Proctor took the easy way out and was being selfish by

committing suicide and leaving his children and wife to them selves

and not standing up to the rest of the village by knowing that people

wouldn't like him anymore and if he died then he wouldn't have to put

up with that. I think though that he changed during the play and did

what was right by trying to do his best and make up to his wife about

his mistakes. He changes and tries to take the blame instead of

everyone else.