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Who Is John Proctor A Tragic Hero

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Tatiana Perez American Lit. 11 November 2012 John Proctor: Tragic Hero As human beings, we each display specific traits and qualities that define our character and shape our personalities. The way in which we carry ourselves establishes our reputations, as well as how others identify us. We are each prone to making mistakes, and unfortunately, the mistakes we make can affect the way people see us as well. The struggle to regain a good name can be difficult and uncertain once someone’s reputation is tarnished. In Arthur Miller’s timeless play, The Crucible, a well-respected man named John Proctor betrays his wife and struggles to gain her forgiveness and his good name in the village of Salem. Although John Proctor betrays his wife, he …show more content…

John Proctor sought his wife’s forgiveness to regain her trust and to entitle him to die an honest man. He recognized his actions; he simply wanted his wife to recognize them too. “Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not.” (Miller 55) Proctor’s appeal to his wife reveals his hope for her forgiveness and for her to see the goodness in him. He wants his wife to recognize him as an honest man, because to him that is the only substance that made him feel like a good person. Later in the course of the play, Elizabeth forgives Proctor for his mistakes. She states, “John, it come to naught that I should forgive you… Whatever you will do, it is a good man does it… it needs a cold wife to prompt lechery.” (Miller 136-137) Elizabeth’s statement to her husband exhibits an understanding of his mistakes and acknowledgement of the good man Proctor truly is. Elizabeth’s forgiveness allows Proctor to forgive himself as well. After being forgiven, John Proctor can now die an honest man, a tragic hero - a man with integrity and goodness. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, it is evident that John Proctor is the tragic hero. Concluding through evidence in the play, it is fairly simple to connect him with separate parts of the definition. He makes his share of mistakes, just as many human beings do. John Proctor is fundamentally a good man, with respectable

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