Psuasive Essay John Proctor

John Proctor is a very friendly man. Everyone likes being his friend. He is open, kind, helpful, upright, blunt-spoken, and just a good, hard-working man. John has lots of faith in God but little in humans. He knows that mankind is good but he also knows that they are weak and imperfect. “Proctor: I’ve heard you to be a sensible man, Mr. Hale. I hope you’ll leave some of it in Salem”.

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

John is a respectable man who stands up for what he believes in. He refuses to betray his friends when they needed him the most. John Proctor signed his confession

John Proctor used his blunt-spoken mind to convey the truth to the courts and showed how he did change with how he saw other people such as Abigail.

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

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

"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.

He demonstrates all of a hero’s characteristics in some way or another. Although not upper class, he is still an upstanding member of the community. He is well respected and looked up to by those around him. As Miller describes him, “Proctor, respected and even feared in Salem, has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud.” (1098) He believes himself to be a fraud because of his tragic flaw: the affair with Abigail Williams. That affair is Proctor’s one weakness, and no one knows about it besides John, his wife, Elizabeth, and Abby. Another characteristic of a tragic hero is that he must be involved in some kind of struggle. Proctor is involved in two different struggles. One is the personal struggle between him and his wife. Elizabeth knows of his lechery and has a hard time forgiving him. Proctor tries to convince her of his love and faithfulness, but it is almost impossible. The other struggle Proctor faces is the social struggle that is going on throughout the whole town. The witchcraft hysteria has overtaken Salem, and Proctor struggles to stand out as an honest opposer of the hangings even though it may lead to his own downfall.

Another tragic flaw that, like most tragic heroes in Greek drama, John Proctor exhibits is pride. Proctor has the choice between life and death on pen and paper, to sign his name means life, to refuse means death. “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because

John Proctor is by far the most courageous person in the play because he stood in front of the court and ruined his good name for what he thought was right. He also called out the girl he cheated on his wife with by calling her a whore and then telling Mr. Danforth,”I have known her, sir. I have known her “(1088). John coming out and confessing the truth didn’t help tho because Mr. Danforth called Elizabeth back from jail to ask if Johns statements were true. She lied to protect her husbands good name not knowing John confessed his

In the play, Arthur Miller wrote called, The Crucible John Proctor says "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 143). He had a very strong belief that if his name was blackened there is no reason to live. John Proctor also chose to die because he could not double cross his friends, the fact that he has three children, John could not raise his children to walk like men in the world if he himself was not a true man. Therefore, for the sake of his name, reputation, and his kids John's decision to die was a heroic one.

The good side and bad of John Proctor both affect the play as a whole. His good character of always striving for what is right helped stop the whole witch trials. During this statement, John observed how his action effected others; “Beguile me not! I blacken all of them when this is nailed to the church the very day they hang for silence!” (150). Here he shows that he was willing to give his life to stop the hysteria and save many lives even if it would cost his life. He was a man that tried to do what was right and this turned the majority’s view point in Salem away from the court and saving many innocent people from the noose. However, there was a wicked side of John Proctor as well. Elizabeth, in this statement, explains what she believes motivates Abigail during this time; “Spoke or silent, a promise is surely made. And she may dote one now— I am sure she does— and thinks to kill me, then to take my place” (64). Elizabeth

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.

He ripped the confession because he knew it would blacken his and the others who did not confess names. “Proctor tear the paper, is weeping in furry but erect” (212, line 739). Proctor knew signing the confession was his very last chance at freedom. He did not believe he would be able to live with a bad name. He knew it would be hard to get land or grow crops and do a lot of other things. “Because it's my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! (211, line 726). Another reason it was honorable is because he was thinking about others. If he signed and it was hung on the church it would be like saying the others lied and died guilty. “They think to go like saints. I like not to spoil their names.” (210, line 637). Proctor did not think he was better than anyone that hung. “Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang!” (211, line