Honorable...Ashamed...Respected...All of these words can be used to describe John Proctor. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible John Proctor, one of the main characters, is faced with a variety of challenges. The most extreme test that he must face is to admit to a crime that ultimately leads to his death. At one time he was looked up to in the town of Salem, however when a situation arises, John Proctor must fight his conscience. He is motivated and tested to tell the truth even though it ruined his good reputation and contributed largely to the theme of an individuals reputation throughout the play. This man truly created a model for us to follow.
In this play based on seventeenth century witchhunts, John Proctor is motivated by anger to
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He confesses to get his wife Elizabeth out of prison and uncover the reason for her being accused. He knows that Abigail is trying to get Elizabeth killed so that her desire to marry John can finally be met. John realized this and again spoke out against injustice. Proctor wanted to honor those who died faithfully and therefore admits to the sin he has been hiding. He feels he “cannot mount the gibbet like a saint”(136) and therefore first admits to lechery before he is executed.
John Proctor lived and died as an honorable man in Salem. He was not a perfect man and admittedly some of his decisions were not right. However he won the battle against his conscience and righted the wrong to the best of his ability, motivated by protecting his family’s name from shame. He paid for these convictions with his life. Throughout the play The Crucible, John is motivated to tell the truth even though it ruins reputation, and contributes to the theme of someones reputation. Although he lived and died in the seventeenth century his example is timeless as we are faced with situations similar to
I would say that John Proctor would be the tragic hero. He’s the character that technically leads Abigail Williams on this path of accusing people of witchcraft. If he hadn’t had an affair with her and if she hadn’t fallen in love with him then there would be no need for her to try to get him back by trying to get rid of his wife.
When Proctor confessed to adultery to the judge to save his wife showed he was very honorable. “I thought of her softly. God, help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweet”(193, line 865-866)...”My wife is innocent, except she knew a whore when she saw one.”(193, line 876-877). Even though John Proctor knew adultery was a big and very bad sin he still confessed. He knew it was wrong to let Elizabeth get into trouble when she had done nothing wrong. His actions
What characteristics generate an honorable or dishonorable man? This can be contested in the play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. This play consists of the time period during the Salem Witch Trials. Girls were said to have been witches for their dancing, and were accused of witchcraft. John Proctor was accused, and although not involved with witchcraft, confessed to being part of it anyway. He then took away his confession to keep his good name, but was hanged despite this. John Proctor chose to die in order to preserve his name in the town, and also fought for what he believed in. In The Crucible, John Proctor was portrayed as an honorable man.
In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, Miller introduces a society that values its reputation. The honest, upright, and highly respected character, John Proctor, faces a difficult choice between retaining his good name and confessing his sin of lechery with Abigail Williams. Then he must decide between lying about his guilt in order to save his life and dying an honest man. His honesty, along with his innocence, shows the audience that the judicial system in Salem is corrupted and serves injustice. Proctor is willing to tell the truth even when it is clearly going to ruin his reputation and name in the village.
John Proctor’s Faithful Life John Proctor is known throughout Salem for being one of the most honest people to live in the town. Even when he does something wrong, he always admits to it, even if it puts his life in danger. John is a farmer in Salem, that does not go to church much, but still holds strong to his christian beliefs and his honesty. John also has a wife and three sons within the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. John Proctor is easily the most honest person within the play, The Crucible.
One of the most prominent and influential characters who has represented these qualities is John Proctor. The reader sees how John conveys courage through defending his wife, admitting his crimes to the court, spending three months in a dungeon without faltering from his beliefs, and choosing to sacrifice himself for his family and justice. John exposes that he fell into his weakness when he became involved with Abigail. John admits this when he says, “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time.” The reader also notices how weak John has become to the idea of lying in a confession, but each time John Proctor is introduced with weakness he defeats it with courage. John Proctor is adamant about truth. At the end of The Crucible John’s life is taken from him for truth. He will not waver from his morals and knows that the truth is that these people that have been convicted are innocent.
Proctor 's decision to tell the court about his affair ironically demonstrates his goodness. He also spoke up for the innocent girls that had their names branded. He willingly sacrifices his good name in order to protect his wife and others who are wrongly accused. Only through his public acknowledgment of the affair does Proctor regain his wife 's trust. At the end of the play, Proctor refuses to slander himself by allowing the court to make him make a false confession. The court told him to lie, and that if he lies that he would not be sent to the gallows. He did the right decision by telling the truth about his affair with Abigail. He honestly told the truth about the affair, and that he was not part of the witchcraft. His response further exemplifies Proctor 's integrity. But John was not guilty. He had nothing to do with witchcraft, he admitted to his own mistakes. Proctor knows that if he confesses that he will be damned himself, yet again, if he agrees to confess, he will also be free from the torment from the demon inside him and set others free too. This realization, along with Elizabeth 's forgiveness, enables Proctor to forgive himself and finally regain his good name and self-respect. As the court
In the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is a local farmer in the town of Salem, he is quite known due to his high reputation of being well respected and even slightly feared. John is a man of his integrity, he is considered to have an honorable name in his community, but John also has a great disdain for hypocrisy, yet has a secret of his own. In Act 1, John is described to be in his mid-30’s and as well as “a kind man, powerful of body, even tempered, and not easily led” (Miller 19). John Proctor is an independent man who has great strength in what he does and what he believes in. Throughout the play, John feels nothing but guilt about his little secret, cheating on his wife Elizabeth Proctor with Abigail. He has committed
In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, many characters value their reputation. A character who especially values his, more than anything else, is John proctor. He has strong feelings about how others view his overall quality or character. Unfortunately, other characters in the play must pay for their bad actions. John Proctor will do almost anything to keep his reputation, he will lie and do everything in his power to protect it. He shows how he really values his reputation especially in the act four. He was going to confess, and did, but when judge Danforth told him he was going to write his confession on a piece of paper and put it on the door of the church he would not stand for it. When Danforth asks him why he doesn't want to put it there
People’s true character is revealed through their actions. Their morals and ethics can be told from how they choose to act in a situation. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible; the character of John Proctor is an honorable man despite having committed wrongful acts. He was able to redeem himself through acts that is considered courageous, such as when he refuses to contribute to the lie of witchcraft in Salem, when he fights for the people who were convicted of witchcraft and when he regrets being a dishonest man.
Throughout the play “The Crucible” John proctor, a man that has been accused of witchcraft, is given a choice of giving a false confession and in return he would be given his life. John a man with high morals decides that he would rather die to keep his name clean he made this decision knowing that he would be leaving his children and wife. A man willing to leave his entire family and die for the principle that kept his name clean is an increasingly challenging one. John felt as that keeping the truth was worth dying for and so he did
“The Crucible showed us that you should do the right thing ‘Go to him! He rushes out the door, as though to hold back his fate. Proctor! Proctor!’ the Author, Arthur Miller took the definition one step further: you shouldn’t care what others think and do the right thing”. John Proctor reputation with god shows how of a good man he is John Proctor is a sinner and a sinner are against their moral fashion and vision of decent, but the only thing that matters to a sinner is that they have understanding with god. When John Proctor toured up the confession to save his reputation with god and believes in himself to do the right thing and the reader learns that you shouldn’t care what others think about you and just do the right thing.
Another inner quality that defines John Proctor is the value he holds to his good name. Proctor is a firm believer in the fact that one’s name is the only thing that remains after death, and what is done with it while living can affect one’s posterity for generations. This is the driving force behind his actions in the final act of the play. At first, he felt no shame in lying to the court about his accusation of witchcraft because he felt there was no more damage he could do to his reputation and that one more sin would not make any difference. His attitude changed when he realized his confession would mean blackening the name of those who already had died, and his sons would have to live with that mark on their names. He knew he could not teach his sons “. . . to walk like
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor is portrayed as a flawed character who despite his multiple faults is able to improve. His life in Massachusetts is plagued with various challenges and temptations, some of which Proctor proves to be vulnerable to. Despite these moments, Proctor is able to listen to his conscience and continue to obey his moral compass. This ability to return to his morals and accept his mistakes differentiates John Proctor from a sinner and enables him to be seen as a Christ-like figure. In the Crucible, John Proctor is a man of integrity, since he admits to his flaws, attempts to improve and protects the people around him, at his own expense.
John Proctor, in The Crucible, showed great integrity. Although sometimes he might have made the wrong decision, he was always working on helping those close to him and keeping his name clean. During the time in Salem when this story was made, the idea of witchcraft