John Proctor Sacrifice In The Crucible

Many people have made mistakes and have been in bad situations or tried to help others by hurting themselves. John Proctor made mistakes and he tried to help Elizabeth, his wife but in doing so he hurt himself. He confessed about Abigail and everything that happened between them because he could not live on a lie even though that could mean being executed. John was truthful and felt as if he needed to do the right thing for his wife and confess his sin. John Proctor served as The Crucible tragic hero, which means that he is fated by the Gods or by some supernatural force to doom and destruction or at least to great suffering.

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.

The air is warm, sweat dripping down his face. He longingly looks towards his wife with tears in his eyes; knowing the end is nigh. And then, with a bang, a crack, a whimper; his soul left, hoping to be in a better place. This was one man of many who was hung for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. They all were admirable and died for a cause. One of them was an influential man by the name of John Proctor. John Proctor is an admirable man in the play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller because he is respectable, has a need to protect others in his life, and has integrity/honor.

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.

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

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

One of the main characters, John Proctor, faces many adversities throughout the play. He has to overcome his emotional and moral problems, which changes and develops his character into someone different from before. At the beginning of the play, Proctor appears an average person, respected in his community for his honesty. Miller describes him as “a kind man- powerful of body, even- tempered and not easily led…” (Miller 19). Later on in the play, a shift in his character shows when he learns of the many accusations of witchcraft, one including his wife Elizabeth. The unfortunate events he was experiencing brought out his characteristic of leadership and he becomes an influential leader in the effort to save his wife. Towards the end of the novel, John faces an important moral choice, he can tell the truth about his wife and die honorably or he cannot tell the truth and live the rest of his life as a lie. He shows his respectful and honest character by telling the truth and dying. The adversity that John experiences proves very powerful, but his morally right mindset stands out even more than before. The Crucible is yet another literary work that demonstrates Horace’s assumption about adversity and its

Elizabeth, I have confessed it!" (Miller 113). He confesses his sin, and speaks those words, only because he is looking out for the good of the community, and others around him. He hates that his name is tarnished, but feels that God will forgive him for it. Proctor's decision to tell the court about his affair ironically demonstrates his goodness. Saying ”I want my life” (137) shows that he is willing to sacrifice his good name in order to protect his wife. Only through his public acknowledgment of the affair does Proctor regain his wife's trust. Proctor refuses to slander himself by allowing the court to nail his false confession to the church door. This action further exemplifies Proctor's integrity. John declined to give the names of innocent community members. He is taking a hit for the team. Proctor realizes that if he gives the names of innocent citizens they will be hanged. So instead he feels he has no choice but to do the right thing, and die for the good cause. Proctor respects and stands up for his fellow neighbors Rebecca Nurse by proclaiming the difficulty “so pious a woman be secretly a Devil's bitch after seventy years of such good prayer" (64). Proctor's decision is not an easy one to make. John is saving others lives, saving his name, keeping his pride, and his integrity.

A man 's reputation in many forms is his, life’s work. To have your reputation dismantled is like taking away one 's accomplishments and life’s work. Arthur Miller 's The Crucible is a play about justice and injustice, and how our justice system can be easily corrupted. The story revolves around a man named John Proctor, the tragic hero of this story. John Protector is a symbolic character created by Arthur Miller, because he faced the justice system head on. Proctor’s biggest flaw would be his great amounts of pride, which unfortunately led to his own death. In Arthur Millers’ The Crucible, he characterizes John Proctor as the tragic hero of the story because of all that he lost, through his relentless crusade to free his wife and exposing injustice, illustrating that no hero is perfect.

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible it is clear that the development of the play is about John Proctor’s tragic condition. Miller uses this aspect to compel the audience to see why Proctor did what he did and to develop a sense of empathy for him. John Proctor overall is both flawed and honorable. He has a complete reversal of fate brought upon by his own flaw. John Proctor is a tragic hero because he contains all of the characteristics of a tragic hero, such as catharsis and hamartia, despite not being born into nobility, he has many noble characteristics.

Hale urged everybody to confess to their sin in order to save their lives. While talking to Elizabeth he uttered, "It may well be God damns a liar less than he that who throws his life away for pride" (Miller 132). Hale believed that if John had the guts to say he was lying he would have lived, but with a blackened name. Although John Proctor is throwing his life away for pride because he does not possess the courage to reveal the

    Pride plays a major role in the life of John Proctor. As Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft, she gets taken by the marshalls. “She walks out the door, Herrick and Cheever behind her" (Miller 78). Proctor was mad and clueless of what to do, because he knew he could not say anything about the affair or it would soil his name and reputation. So John's pride kept him from revealing his sin, resulting him and his wife to be in jail. All because he does not have any type of courage to reveal his sin. As spoken by John Proctor, "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 worthy the dust on the feet of them that hanged, leave me my name" (Miller 143). He does not want his name to be blackened in the town, so he decided to take the path that ends his life. Hale gave a chance to everybody to confess to their sins in order to save their lives. Hale immediately went to Elizabeth and said, "It may well be God damns a liar less than he that

He tries to confess to the court about his adultery with Abigail by stating, “ I have known her, sir. I have known her” (John Proctor 193). Proctor does not want to formally state that he has committed adultery because it could hurt his name greatly, his family, and cause him to be put to death. Hale is trying to get Proctor to confess about his lie than die for pride. God cannot forgive a man who dies for pride, yet can forgive a liar. Thus, Proctor should confess to witchcraft. However; Proctor cannot do this because he cannot blacken his name. He would end up revealing his sin and it would be the end of his name. At the very end of the play, Proctor is sent to death, and Hale implores to Elizabeth, “Woman, plead with him! Woman! Its is pride, it is vanity. Be his helper! -what profit him to bleed” (Hale 212)? Hale yells this at Elizabeth, because he wants her to go and convince John to plead guilty, but prideful Proctor chose to die instead with his honor intact. He chose to die as repentance for his original sin of adultery. This emphasizes proctor has overwhelming pride, and not even with the fear of death will he dare to try and let go of

In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, John Proctor’s decision to die instead of signing a false confession is an act of nobleness and honor. To illustrate, John Proctor has three boys and he wanted to live to see his boys become a man, so he cried, “I have three children - how may I teach them to walk like a man in this world” (pg.886). John Proctor sobbed about the things he wanted to do than destroying his name. He wants to teach his boys how to become a man in this world.

In these turbulent times, trust is forgone, temptations are overpowering, and sacrifice is needed. John Proctor’s death was a necessary evil needed to sway the people and forgo the court's power over life and death.