John Proctor Stand Up Analysis

Within the community of Salem, John Proctor is a well known member of the community who has a reputation of always doing what’s right. When he is confronted by Abigail about their affair, she insults his wife, Elizabeth, by calling her “a cold, sniveling woman…”(I.202-205). He does what is right by defending his wife’s honor by snapping back, “You’ll speak nothin’ of Elizabeth!” (I.197-198). Even

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.

When asked why he will not sign the confession, Proctor dramatically replies, “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!” (143, Act IV). John Proctor sees no good coming out of a false confession; even death would be preferable to it. He claims his name is more important than his life and even goes as far as to hold it in more favor than his soul. Proctor implies that his name is what gives him his humanity, “Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang!” and his sense of self, “Because I cannot have another in my life!” Furthermore, he attests that, without his name, he would not be able to be a proper model for his sons, “I have three children—how may I teach them to walk like men in the world and I sold my friends?” (143, Act IV). Making a false confession would damage Proctor’s self-worth and integrity enough to make him an unfit father. Yet, as he refuses to betray himself, Proctor sees a glimmer of hope in his conscience, “I do see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs.” (144, Act IV). Proctors sacrifice does more than benefit Salem, it relives his burden of guilt and preserves his identity. That “shred of goodness” in him is enough to give him the principles to stand up to the unjust officials of the

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

Despite his being an insignificant and non-status-holding member of society, John Proctor is a much-respected man in Salem. However, in determining his fate, he continues to make several critical and irreversible mistakes that harm his reputation. For fear of being exiled in a town where reputation plays such a large role in their daily lives, Proctor initially tries to hide his crime of adultery, but his affair with Abigail triggers a major series of events in Salem, where simple, unproven accusations escalate to a far larger issue: “Abby—you mean to cry out still others?” “If I live, if I am not murdered, I surely will, until the last hypocrite is dead” (Miller 150). In the end, Proctor decides that for the sake of his desperate circumstances, it would be better to admit to his affair, but by the time he decides to reveal his crime, it is too late to reverse all past actions. He is convicted of witchcraft and doomed to be hanged, later, when given a chance to live, he caves in and confesses to seeing the Devil, only to go back even on this last lie, because he does not have the heart to be freed and saved by a lie.

After the court sentences him to hang, the only way Proctor can survive is by saying he participated in witchcraft. However, he decides not to sign his name stating, “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!” (133). He has given up his reputation in the trials for the sake of the town. Now all he wants is his name, all he wants is a shred of respect. He wants people to remember him as a good man, not an adulterer who practiced witchcraft. Elizabeth, now realizes what John has done as she proclaims, “He has goodness now. God forbid I take it from him” (134). She sees what John has done; he has given up not only his reputation, but his life for the people of the town. For if he admitted to witchcraft, the town would have yet another reason to believe in it and join in the hysteria. In conclusion, Proctor’s pride makes him a tragic hero because by not signing his name to the papers, the court sentences him to death. However, through his pride Elizabeth learns to forgive him of adultery, seeing what he has done for the people of Salem.

John Proctor longs to protect his name. After being falsely accused of witchcraft, out of spite by Abigail Williams, Proctor could easily save himself at the mere price of his reputation by lying and admitting to committing the crime of witchcraft. John battles with himself between doing the honorable thing and hanging alongside his friends for a lie or saving himself from the gallows and living with the burden of knowing that he dishonored his fellow prisoners.Although Proctor does admit to witchcraft, he refuses to sign over his precious name on it. John explains,

Many people can argue that John Proctor was or was not an honorable man. John Proctor was a honorable man, for many different reasons. John Proctor was a man who lived in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. He was married to Elizabeth Proctor. In this time John Proctor showed he was honorable in some ways. Such as him confessing to adultery to try and save his wife and he ripped his confession so he did not blacken his and others in the village names. People can also argue that is is not a honorable man. Because he did not go to church as much as he should have.

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

John Proctor is a man that everyone in Salem knows. Everyone in Salem has respect for John Proctor because he is a man who has a mind like no others because he is constantly thinks outside the box. John Proctor is always thinking outside the box by taking it to the extreme, and never gives a simple answer. His thoughts provoke the towns people by showing his imagination. John Proctor is a caring man who has great respect for everyone in the town because he doesn’t want to see innocent people sent on a death trial for something that they did not do at all. John Proctor is very unexpressed. The reason why he is unexpressed is because he shows mentally he shows no guilt, but physically he shows guilt toward the towns people. Finally, with false confessions, this leads him to his final breath of life because with Abigail lying this allows the court to go on her

Proctor ultimately confesses his sins to the court in an attempt to save his wife but alas, his confession comes too late and he is not even able to save himself. When Abby speaks of leaving the court after Proctor successfully accuses her of witchcraft, he is floored and insists that he "made a bell of [his] honor" and ran "doom of [his] good name" (1207). Proctor cannot believe how quickly Abby can take control of the court and instantly demands Danforth's attention to his proposals that declare his wife innocent. Realizing that it is more important to save wife's life than to keep his good reputation, Proctor is able to successfully entrust his evidence to the court in an attempt to free his wife. Proctor is willing to forfeit his life's achievements in order to protect his wife which shows how he his dominating pride is not invincible. Unaware that Proctor confessed his sin of adultery, Elizabeth leaves the court without presenting the evidence that she witnessed John cheating on her with Abby. As Elizabeth begins to leave the courtroom, Proctor shouts "Elizabeth, I have confessed it!" (1208). When Proctor finally decides to confess his adultery to the court, it is too late. Since Elizabeth did not know wether or not she should confess to the court, she chooses to try and save her husbands reputation by not directly accusing Proctor of adultery. Proctor's pride oppresses him from admitting the truth for too long, and as a result, he hangs on account of witchcraft. Proctors flamboyant arrogance ultimately brings him to ruin in the

John Proctor’s decision to die for his name was the wrong one because despite his attempt to die an honest man, his name would remain tainted by his sinful affair regardless of whether he decided to live or die. The reality of Proctor’s decision is that he abandoned his wife, their three sons, and their unborn child for an ultimately futile act of self-sacrifice made for the approval of the townspeople. Throughout the course of the book, Proctor’s guilt from his affair with Abigail continuously guides his decisions and the moment it came time to decide whether to confess and live or maintain his innocence and hang was no different. Proctor decided that he would rather die than taint his name, but this decision stems from the guilt which constantly

John Proctor was a “farmer in his middle thirties… strong, even-tempered, and not easily led” (20). Proctor’s reputation was good and he was a well respected man around Salem. The play shows that Proctor’s past involved him having an affair with Abigail. Now in the present, Proctor is conflicted with the fear of being labeled as an adulterer for his past. Proctor’s fear weakens his morality in the court when he has to explain the situation to Judge Danforth. Proctor tells Danforth that he “has known her” (110) and that Abigail wishes to “dance with me (Proctor) on my wife's grave” (110). Although the fear of being labeled as an adulterer and being charged of lechery, Proctor believes that telling the truth is the right thing to do. Proctor realizes that the Salem witch trials have gone to far and are merely just attempts from Abigail to get Proctor all to herself. Proctor’s fear initially holds him back from telling the court the reason why Abigail is accusing everyone and acting strange. Later on the unveiling of his affair with Abigail results in the trials being questioned but it also fuels the deadly fate of

He is faced with extreme conflict due to the fact that he committed one of the biggest sins there is: adultery. Proctor then has to decide whether he wants to confess his sin in order to save his wife or to be selfish and live a slandered reputation. Just as John Proctor makes the decision to save his wife’s life and his family's reputation, so too will any person that believes it is more important to put their family above