John Proctor Traits

To John the affair was just a one time thing and he never wanted it to be brought back up again. But for Abigail it was commitment, since they had the affair then she saw it as John being with her forever, and she realized that the only way for that to happen was to get Elizabeth out of the picture. So even though John Proctor was a good person because of his one little flaw, big issues appeared.

John Proctor is a character that I truly hold close to my heart because our life experiences are very similar. He admits his wrongs, he is strong in his beliefs, and he is able to withstand temptation. I believe John Proctor is such a strong person inside and out because he has been through a lot and never gives up on his faith in God.

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

Before the play took place John had an affair with Abigail but, when push came to shove he confessed it to the court. While he was trying to prove the legitimacy of Abigail and show the court that she is not as authentic as they first believed. John tells the court, “I have known her.” (Miller 110). By doing this, he has honor and integrity because of the difficulties in revealing it to the court; while knowing the crimes for lechery. Near the end of the book when push came to shove John was faced with a decision: to have honor/integrity and die, or to lie, betray your friends and live to fight another day; he chose death. After tearing the confession he just wrote he cries, “I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor.” (Miller 144). In saying this, it takes an enormous amount of integrity to be willing to die to stand up for the truth. He does this because he is honorable and willing to die for something he believes in. John was honorable even though he once made a mistake by cheating with Abigail; he had an opportunity to make up for it, and he did. When Abigail is trying to convince John to come to her and that they still loved each other and it was okay to do so, John responds, “but we did not.” (Miller 23). By responding this way he is clearly trying to cut it off and regain some of that honor that he once had. He does this because he remembers how his wife feels about what he did and that by

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

John Proctor is portrayed throughout the play to be a man who has high moral values that he must abide by. He

"How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave my name!" (Proctor) John Proctor a farmer, and the husband of Elizabeth. He had an affair with Abigail Williams while she worked as a servant in his house. John is a powerful man in both build and character. " John Proctor is a tormented individual. He believes his affair with Abigail irreparably damaged him in the eyes of god, his wife Elizabeth, and himself. True, Proctor did succumb to sin and commit adultery; however he lacks the capacity to forgive himself." (www.cliffsnotes.com) John Proctor goes from being loved and well respected to a sinner and later on becoming a tragic hero which was surrounded by strong feelings and beliefs.

“HALE: In the book of record that Mr. Parris keeps, I note that you are rarely in the church on Sabbath Day. PROCTOR: No sir, you are mistaken. HALE: Twenty-six time in seventeen month, sir. I must call that rare. Will you tell me why you are so absent?”(Miller 38) The conversation goes on for quite a few more pages. To summarize, John is less observant about the sabbath day than others and he does not see the light of God in Reverend Parris. While this evidence points him towards being a sinner, there is no evidence to prove he is one. John says he does not go to church often, but he does pray when he does not go. His son is not baptized only because he sees his son as too precious to let a greedy man baptize him. This is not cause enough to condemn him to a sinner. If it were, everyone would be a sinner. Later, in the same scene, Proctor is asked to recite the ten commandments. He forgets one, but Elizabeth quickly reminds him. “PROCTOR: Aye. You see, sir, between the two of us we do know them all. I think it be a small fault. HALE: Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small.” While Reverend Hale gives a good point, he does not take into account what Elizabeth did for John, fixing the crack in the fortress wall by adding her knowledge to his. Even though John did not remember all ten commandments, as their religion probably tells them they should, he still has a wife who supports him, and that is

“I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang.” John Proctor is the protagonist of the Crusible, though for the first two acts, he does little to effect the flow of the story as the reader is introduced to their setting. One is thrown into Salem village as the sparks of accuzations begin to fly setting ablaze paranoya in the name of witchcraft. Abigail Williams, our antagonist uses a lie to cover up her mistakes and decides to get something out of it when she discovers that people are ignorant enough to believe her. She takes the chance to throw allegations of witchery onto John’s innocent wife, Elizabeth. The thrust behind this action comes from the fact that a year earlier she had found her way into John Proctor’s arms and with his wife out of the picture, they could dance together on her grave… though Abigail had been in his arms, she had never been in his heart. Abigail would loose complete control of her seemingly simple scheme as she would loose her only purpose she had left in life- John. John Proctors downfall occurs before our story ever begins.We watch his once stregnths become his weaknesses. The standards he held for himself were shattered and he fumbled in picking up the pieces. His downfall did not end his story, but began it as he would have to rebuild his honor and self respect when it mattered the most.

We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started”(Henry Ward Beecher). In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts Madness is consuming Salem, and everyone is accused of being with the devil. John Proctor’s affair with Abigail jump starts the witch hunts. In the Crucible Arthur Miller embodies Proctor as a tragic hero with many flaws but his fatal flaw was his pride which caused his demise. Throughout the play we witness Proctor’s transformation as a person from a sinful remorseless adulterer, repentant, and to an honorable man.

John Proctor was no more than someone trying to do good in a bad place. He knew nothing different than exactly how he was raised, a farmer in a strict religious community where it was sinful to do anything which could be seen as a threat to the group of religious extremists, known as Puritans. Puritans are a group of people whose goal is to rid the The Church of England from its “Catholic” practices. John Proctor was a wealthy, distinguished farmer.

Throughout the entire play of The Crucible, John Proctor truly grew as a person, while later fixing his sins and making moral decisions. John Proctor had truly gone through a lot in the play, both emotionally and physically, being that he was wrongfully accused of witchcraft. Although some might contradict this statement, John Proctor loved his wife, Elizabeth, because even though he may have questioned her worth in the past, he always confesses his sins and does what he can to make it right, which is a true quality of a man. Along with this, John Proctor portrays characteristics of a Puritan because he always remains true to his family, alike he must stay true to God, therefore proving to him that John Proctor always stays true.

John may be an honorable hero, but he also has some flaws. One flaw was how he cheated on his wife. “Then go and tell her she’s a whore. Whatever promise she may sense - break it, John, break it” (170 L.398). “You’ll tear it free-when you come to know that I will be your only wife, or no wife at all! She has an arrow in you yet, John Proctor, and you know it well” (170 L.419). Elizabeth knows John had an affair with Abigail, but she forgave him.

John was a good guy that ran a farm with his wife Elizabeth Proctor; I don’t really know the disputes between the couple but at one point John has an affair with Abigail Williams. Eventually he will feel so bad and so ruined that when he confesses in court he is hanged. John has no choice, and in order to keep his name pure he is hanged for his wrong actions. John was worried because if the word got out then his whole family would be perceived as bad people. That is why he didn’t run away or anything, he just let them hang him; which would keep his name pure forever.

John Proctor is a caring and honest man, he has a wife, kids, a house, a farm, and friends which he cares for very deeply. He goes to church when he can. Around these times if you miss church and/or work on sundays is law breaking because the bible is the law. John would do anything to keep his farm going and to help his family. If anyone accused you of anything in these times you were guilty. Today it's innocent until proven guilty, but back then it's guilty until proven innocent, and most of the time you were guilty even if you didn't do it because they weren't open minded and couldn't prove innocence.