The Crucible John Proctor Conflict Essay

John Proctor's Moral Conflict and Moral Character

Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is a great portrayal of humans and their struggles. This play takes place in the 1690’s in Salem, a small Puritan community based on a rigid social system, where an outbreak of rumors claiming witchcraft contaminated the small village. The witch hysteria was initiated by a group of young girls who were afraid of being accused of swaying from the strict regulations. This caused conflict among the people of the community and shows which characters act morality right in which situations. John Proctor, one of the main figures in the play, can proof his moral character during his life. But what makes your decisions and your character moral ? Proctor shows his

morality in three difficult situations. The first is his guilt over his adulterous affair with Abigail Williams, the second when he admits his affair even it destroys his good name and the third, his final decision to make the ultimate sacrifice.

John Proctor is portrayed throughout the play to be a man who has high moral values.
But he also have to make difficult decision.

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. But he accepts that it was a mistake and he has to live with this guilt his whole life. Even his wife says: 'The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you' .This statement is true for John Proctor, he judges himself harshly for his sins and is ashamed with himself. His feelings show that he has a moral character because he regrets what he has done. Also his action because he rejects Abigail after he understood his mistake. „Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I ever reach for you

again.“

Although it pains him greatly to do so, Proctor admits to having an adulterous affair with Abigail Williams.

He went to court to make this confession, Proctor sees that Abigail has gained control once again of the court, that the judges do not believe Mary Warren's testi-mony, and that the petition signed by numerous members of the community on behalf of his wife carries no weight, John admits to the affair in order to save his friends.”It [Abigail] is a whore!“ When John calls Abigail a whore, he knows that he must provide proof, and so he finally lays his soul bare before the judges, “She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore's vengeance, and you must see it now. (III.374-384)“ ,knowing that at the least he could be imprisoned for his adulterous rela-tionship or at the worst executed. Elizabeth is safe for now because of her pregnancy, but John cannot allow his friends to be executed while he withholds information that might save them. This act shows again his moral character, because he admitted his affair even if it means to destroy his good name and maybe be

executed.
Proctor utters these lines at the end of the play, in Act IV, when he is wrestling with his conscience over whether to confess to witchcraft and thereby save himself from the gallows.
„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!“ The judges and Hale have almost convinced him to do so, but the last stumbling block is his signature on the confession, which he cannot bring himself to give. In part, this unwillingness reflects his desire not to dishonor his fellow prisoners: he would not be able to live with himself knowing that other innocents died while he quaked at death’s door and fled.
In the end, it is this conflict that provides the greatest moral stature to Proctor, who stands true to his words of representing his name despite the protestations of his wife and others. This conflict results in his death, but the acquisition of moral superiority over many others in Salem.

The Crucible shows that innocent people are willing to die rather than sell their souls for a lie, this is a powerful proof of their morality.
Proctor has gained moral stature espacially at the end of the play. Proctor realizes that he will not live and he will be condemned to die. While he is offered by Danforth a way to live, a way to escape, Proctor does not take the path of acting inmoral. The conclusion of the play strikes a wonderful note of resistance and appeal to a moral fiber that the others of Salem have not achieved. Those who have succumbed to conformity and have sacrificed their names and others' identities have not achieved the moral stature of Proctor. In conclusion they can say that proctor had a moral character