In life people make mistakes and choices that will either haunt them or leave them with gratification. In a time of mass hysteria, a confining Puritan society goes to extreme measures to end what they believe is the devil's work. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, we follow John Proctor as he gets caught up in the witch trials leading to his death by hanging. Throughout The Crucible one can see John Proctor and his transformation from the choices and changes he makes to become a upright man. His venture begins with an troubled soul, facing the truth, and finally redeems himself. First, John Proctor's journey begins with a life constantly plagued with guilt from a severe blunder. When Proctor enters into the bedroom of Paris' house …show more content…
It is first seen when he speaks to Reverend Hale at his home, “I have no witness and cannot prove it, except my word be taken. But I know the children’s sickness had naught to do with witchcraft” (35). With this knowledge, Proctor must confront and reveal the truth to the court by relying on himself which improves his own self image. Later, he faces inner demons with a confession to the court of the affair: “his voice about to break, and his shame great: In the proper place - where my beasts are bedded. On the last night of my joy, some eight months past . . . He has to clamp his jaw to keep from weeping. A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything” (57). Here we see a more vulnerable side of Proctor than from the beginning, he's losing some of last shreds of pride by telling the truth of the matter. However, despite efforts to save the people he loves and respects, the court chooses to be ignorant in the face of truth. He then cries out, “I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud” (62). This establishes not only the corruption of the court, but the connection Proctor recognizes between himself and them. On the whole, he struggles with the truth, but overcomes …show more content…
After being in jail for crimes of witchcraft, he is reunited with his wife and seeks forgiveness, but still doubts his character: “Then who will judge me? Suddenly clasping his hands: God in Heaven, what is John Proctor, what is John Proctor? He moves as an animal, and a fury is riding in him, a tantalized search. I think it is honest, I think so; I am no saint” (72). This demonstrates the one thing that denies Proctor peace from his inner demons is in fact himself. Then he considers the option of confessing himself a witch to save his life, but he desires no more deception. Proctor exclaims in great distress, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (75). This illustrates two divergent paths, one where he could choose a life of lies or a glimpse of an honorable man. So, with the last bits of self respect and pride he chooses an honorable death with some last words: “for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs” (75). Since, Proctor did what he thought was righteous, he realizes that there might be honor in him after all. Altogether, with a lightened soul, he becomes a man in which he
At the end of the play, John proctor is faced with the biggest calamity of his life. He was given the the choose to lie and say he is a witch or stand by his honesty and die as a marauder. john proctor name was everything to him. It made him who he is so he based his actions on it.. John wanted to live and keep his good name
The Crucible was a rather strong book, it had battles both internal and external, there were also betrayals and vendettas… but a few stuck strong to their morals of what was wrong, and what was right. After the girl’s acts were, undoubtedly, in the eyes of the law, seen as entirely real, people who would not otherwise have been accused of witchcraft were now eligible to be under Satan’s spell. One John Proctor, saw himself above the nonsense, that witches could not exist in Salem, his wife, his children nor him; But, when Mary Warren said to the court that he used his spirit to drag her into court to testify against the girls, the judges deemed her word more truthful than his. After actively and repeatedly denying the claims, he was sentenced to death, for only a witch could lie in the face of god.
Proctors Grave Mistake Corruption has always existed in our society since the beginning to present time due to conspiracies such as the witch trials and the communism era. The Crucible by Arthur Miller was written during the era of communism to mere the hysteria. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials in Salem Massachusetts in 1692. It’s a corrupt witch trial in Salem that’s due to false accusations of witchcraft for personal gains. John Proctor is the protagonist in the story The Crucible who goes through the ultimate test by choosing his reputation over integrity.
His refusal to go to church and avoid baptizing his kids is due impart to him thinking that Reverend Parris is a dishonest church leader. All these acts against conformity truly define who he is at the end of the play when he avoids succumbing to the conformity. Proctor was falsely accused of being a witch and was facing execution. He was desperate to give in to the conformity because he was facing death, but he stayed true to himself and did not give in to conformity. Proctor says, “And there’s your first marvel… for now I do think some shred of goodness in John Proctor”; this implies that he realizes he made the morally right choice (Miller 144). He just saved the life of many innocent people by giving his own life. For Proctor saving the people and giving up is life was the only option. “I am no Sarah Good or Tituba … it is no part of salvation that you use me… I have given you my soul; leave me my name”; as John Proctor says this it implies how morally strong he is because he thinks it is shameful to go along with the conformity (Miller 142 – 144). Most of the court was against Proctor and were pressuring him to surrender but he refused. He says, “for them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed… we will burn, we will burn together”; this emphasizes the fact that he truly understands that there is
The most important scene in the play was act two, scene three, where John Proctor is able to talk with his wife, Elizabeth, one last time. He decides that he will "confess" to the crime of witchcraft, thereby avoiding being hung. He says to Elizabeth:
Proctor’s prideful personality does not let him baptize his third son because he dislikes Reverend Parris (168, l. 516-520). Proctor withholds his affair with Abigail because of his pride, he was unable to confess it until his wife was accused. Before he confessed he stated that “a man will not cast away his good name,” this statement suggest that a man has a lot of pride in his name and therefore his confession must be true (189, l. 845-847). In addition, after confessing to witchcraft Proctor takes pride in his name and refuses to have his name nailed in the door of the church showing everyone that he confessed to witchcraft (207, l. 894-897). “You will not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me!,” Proctor beliefs he is better than Sarah good and Tituba hence he would not sign his name (207, l. 899-701). Towards the end, Proctor thinks better of his action and rips the signed paper after declaring, “Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (207, l. 725-730). Proctor compares himself with the brave people that are about to hang and takes pride in his name by refusing to keep on lying and ripping the paper with his signature; he bravely accepted death with the thought that his name is not tainted by
John Proctor: “God in heaven, what is John Proctor, what is John Proctor”. John is a man of strong moral beliefs, concerned only for the safety of his family and personal welfare. He cares of nothing for the beliefs of any of the other people in the town and what his supervisor which is the Reverend, thinks either. After trying to avoid involvement in the witch trials he is later prosecuted for witchery and sentenced to hang. John trys to avoid any involvement in the Salem witch trials. His reason for doing so is to protect his image because he is afraid he will be committed of adultery with Abigail Williams. Following these events he trys to save everyone’s lives by admitting to this horrible offense adultery and ends up losing the trial along with his life. He did have a chance to live but instead of signing away his name and his soul to keep his life, he wanted to die honorably with his friends not without a name, a soul, and with guilt. “John Proctors decision to die is reasonable and believable”. Reverend Parris, the Salem minister and Proctors immediate supervisor, which says “ there is either obedience or the church will burn like hell is burning.” “The church in theocratic Salem is identical with the state and the community and will surely crumble if unquestioning obedience falters in the least.” Proctor, on the other hand, “has come to regard his self as a king of fraud,” as long as he remains obedient to an authority which he cannot respect.
Imagine a teacher giving a zero to a student on a test for cheating, but had no proof the student was guilty? This is exactly how John Proctor felt when Mary Warren accused him of witchcraft, with no proof. Even under these circumstances, he keeps his composure for the most part, and accepts his fate. Many of Mr. Proctor´s personality traits can be associated with my own in that he and I, sometimes stretch the truth, is not easily fooled, and fight for what we believe in.
And so there goes a silly little man, bent by pride, forth to the gallows and whatever fate may await him beyond. Indeed, what legacy did John Proctor leave to his wife, left homeless, without a husband? What legacy did John Proctor leave his children, abandoned by their father in a fit of selfish vanity? What message was left for his children who would forever live in the knowledge that their father cared more for his good name than for his own sons and their welfare? What memory would he leave to the world which could not save him, what legacy to the world? There goes the silly little man, bent by pride, striding away from the family that needs him, towards his fate.
The first struggle that John Proctor faces in The Crucible is his guilt over committing the sin of adultery. This moral problem continues throughout the play, and it is the primary moral predicament that Proctor faces in the play. He has broken his own moral code as was as the moral law in the Puritanical Salem in his affair with Abigail.
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.
...h, his wife, does not want to admit her husband’s deceit, proctor is accused of lying to the court. When Proctor confesses his sin of lechery he feels better and his internal guilt is freed. This is different to the end of the play where he signed the confession to witchcraft. He later rips it up as could not live with himself if he were to allow Abigail to get away with her lies, through confessing to something he did not do. In ripping up the confession he is also able to keep his good name which he says at the end is all he has left, his name, and he does not want to give it away.
In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller goes into detail about the historical event, the Salem witchcraft trials which took place in Massachusetts in 1692. The drama centers on John and Elizabeth Proctor and a young girl Abigail Williams, whom John Proctor has committed adultery with. In order to get rid of Elizabeth so that Abigail can have John to herself Abigail accuses John’s wife of witchcraft, a crime that was highly frowned upon. John proctor goes through a series of changes from being a horrible person who cheated on his wife to a tragic hero who will give up his life to say his wife. John proctor is viewed as many things in this play but at the end he come out an honest and noble man.
It was a very dark battle for John but he manage to pull through and get his name. As the audience witnesses the fall of this character they would feel helpless understanding that the fall of this hero was caused by chance, fate or a critical flaw in his character. This essay will outline how John Proctor is initially portrayed by Arthur Miller, what the chinks in his armour are, how his character strengthens, and how John Proctor’s inner strength prevails towards the end of the
John Proctor faces many decisions in response to his moral dilemma to try to save his life. One of the difficult decisions John makes is to reveal that he had an affair with Abigail Williams and thereby has committed adultery. If the local court convicts him of this crime, he faces being jailed. Also by admitting this crime, John reveals a weakness in his character. This flaw in his personality will make it harder for him to stand up in the community as an honorable and believable person. In trying to convince others that witchcraft does not exist John’s dishonesty with his wife will make him less convincing to the community.