The Theme Of Corruption In John Proctor

Reputation is a very important theme in this play, and the protagonist, John Proctor, demonstrates it. He is a very confident, strong and honest man, who desperately wants his wife’s forgiveness, ‘I only look to please you Elizabeth’’. This was due to the fatal mistake he had done, which decided the outcome of the play; he had an affair with his servant: Abigail Williams. In addition, due to his reputation, he did not want people to know that he had committed the sin of adultery. Nonetheless, he told his wife due to his honest and religious nature ‘’Like a Christian, I confessed’’. Proctor’s lust has been one of the biggest factors that started the witch Hysteria, as Abigail’s obsession with him made her accuse Proctor’s wife of witchcraft

(in order to get rid of Elizabeth and live happily with Proctor, John states: ‘’ She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave!’’).
John is an upright man, who is subject to ‘calumny’ due to his sincere and straightforward approach to people, ‘’Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore.” Proctor directly implies that Parris does not give much thought to God, but he does care about having ‘golden candles’, making him an avaricious hypocrite. Nonetheless, Proctor withholds information from the court (making himself a hypocrite), with the intention of saving his reputation. Despite the fact that he could halt Abigail’s misconducts immediately, if he had confessed the reason behind her lustful motivation. As John attempts to bring Abigail’s crimes to justice through reasonable methods, the judge stays sceptical and does not understand that he is not doing God’s work. He had condemned seventy-two innocent people to death, thus he could not admit his failure and had to carry on contributing to the Witch Hysteria, in order to retain his reputation as a just judge.
Subsequently, Proctor has to overcome a final challenge In order to restore his reputation. To save his life, he is tempted into admitting that he writes ‘’in the devil’s book’’. Of course, by doing so he is lying to God and himself, dirtying the reputation of the fallen martyrs. He decides that he should die like a Christian instead of breathing like a witch. He cleanses his soul and forgives himself by not dishonouring his fallen companions the moment he died, ‘’He gave his goodness now, God forbid I take it from him’’.
Accusation is a very strong theme in this play; the antagonist (Abigail) overuses it to escape punishment after she is caught dancing in the woods.

Additionally, Abigail Williams justifies her actions by blaming other people, and benefits from accusing a religious character (the devil itself) for tempting her. She was an orphan since Native Americans killed her parents, she admitted that she saw ‘’reddish work done’’ before, and will bring a ‘’pointy reckoning’’ to anyone who dares stand in her way, giving the impression of her being a reckless, psychotic teenager who worships the devil and … drinks chicken blood. Nonetheless, she fears the punishment that she might receive when dancing in the woods with ‘Lucifer’, and uses it as a chance to charge innocent people and manipulate them, in order to eradicate her enemies and ultimately falsely accuse Elizabeth Proctor. She is allegedly empowered by her visions to highlight the devils that have infiltrated Salem’s community ‘’the devil agent among us’’. She is driven by jealousy and a sexual desire, which permits her to convict even the most powerful, and dignified individuals, their reputation is nothing compared to ‘God’s will’ and ultimately, her

lies.
Moreover, Abigail admits that she has ‘’danced for the devil!’’, ‘’I saw him; I wrote in his book’’ to demonstrate to the judges and ministers that she has rejected the devil, and come back to ‘’the light of God’’.

She did this in order to earn their trust the moment she saw the opportunity arising. On the other hand, Abigail was the one who started the hysteria but many people have taken advantage of the supplanted logic. Thomas Putnam for instance, ‘’this man is killing his neighbour for their land'’ he has been plotting to become wealthier by acquiring his ‘neighbour’s’ land through the witch hunt. In the end, he succeeds, and indirectly kills Corey (allowing his land to be auctioned and bought by the only man rich enough…himself). In Abigail’s case, when others have accused her of adultery and called her a harlot, she will now exert revenge upon them and accuse them of devil worship. Since thus is how empowering the hysteria and paranoia of a community is, ‘’a person is either with the court, or he must be counted against it’’, Danforth is a prime example of how people in Salem have a black and white thinking personality, extreme puritanism. Since everything is either good or evil, there is no

in-between.
Reverend Hale was described by Arthur Miller as ‘’nearing forty, a tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual’’, describing him as a physically fit and confident towards witch-hunting. However, Hale is one of the characters in The Crucible, who has changed the most throughout the play. As the piece continues, Hale slowly starts feeling responsible for exerting ‘justice’ on such a high number of people ‘’He is different now – drawn a little, and there is a quality of deference, even of guilt, about his manner now’’. He questions himself as to whether he is doing the right thing by using his intellect and religious studies expertise, to bring death to thus numerous innocent people, ‘’ where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up’’.
In the end, he finally breaks into subsequent despair once understanding the truth behind Elizabeth Proctor’s words, ‘’I think that be the Devil’s argument’’ when Hale tries to manipulate Elizabeth to make her convince her husband that he should value survival over his reputation. Reverend Hale tries to rise as an individual in the hysteric society, but soon meets despair, as he understands that it is no longer in his power to stop the hangings. In fact, twelve guiltless people had already died. Subsequently, Reverend Hale tries to save Proctor by forcing him to pursue survival at all costs, instead of worrying about his reputation. However, John values his integrity most of all and does not want it to be stained with lies. He shows how corrupted the community and the theocracy is, truly a delicate and tragic matter, as Hale admits himself, ‘’I have been doing devil’s work’’. This is especially ironic, since in Act 1, Hale was very confident that he was doing ‘’God’s will’’, and did not falter when condemning an innocent individual. It also shows how greatly the supplanted logic changed him, as by the end of the play he was convinced that he was doing the devil’s work.