The Crucible Character Analysis

Accordingly, some may argue that, with the few made up facts and exaggerations in the play, the scenes should be credited as random occurrences instead events made up of fate and some questionable choices. It seems as if the

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 faces one of his many moral dilemmas to confess to witchcraft in order to stay alive. In making this decision he has to think about his

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.

During the Red Scare, many were arrested and prosecuted for allegedly being Communists. Miller took these accusations and made a mockery of them in The Crucible. “The Salem tragedy… developed a paradox. It is a paradox in whose grip we still live, and there is no prospect yet that we will discover its resolution,” (Miller 6-7). Miller is directly saying that since the Salem Witch Trials, nothing has changed and that he sees no future in it ever changing. He later said that “the results of this process are no different now from when they ever were,” (Miller 34-35). Miller was well aware of everything going on and used that to his advantage in his writing. Miller knew that the Salem Witch Trials would relate to what was happening then.

2016: Many works of literature contain a character who intentionally deceives others. The character’s dishonesty may be intended either to help or to hurt. Such a character, for example, may choose to mislead others for personal safety, to spare someone’s feelings, or to carry out a crime. Choose a novel or play in which a character deceives others. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze the motives for that character’s deception and discuss how the deception contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

The year of 1692 marked a time of mass hysteria and conflict within the small village of Salem, Massachusetts; this time was known as the Salem Witch Trials. The trials plagued the village with chaos, mystery, and accusations. As the hysterics of witchcraft rippled through Salem, more than two-hundred people were accused and tried, one-hundred-fifty townspeople were arrested, approximately twenty people were executed, and five others died in prison. The trials had a domino effect on the townspeople and sent the village into a downward spiral. Since then, the trials have become tantamount to paranoia, as almost three centuries later, they continue to beguile the great minds of many. To this day, though there are many possible theories, and

Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. He wrote this because of his personal experiences with the Communist Witch Trials. Miller was known for always sharing his opinion out to the community. During this time Senator Joseph McCarthy play a major role in trying to prevent communism from spreading. Miller was an easy target for McCarthy and was accused of being a Communist. This caused Miller to become one of many victims of the Communist witch trials and her served time in jail. The Communist witch trials was what influenced Miller to write his play about the Salem witch trials in the 1600’s.The Crucible mimicked issues that both societies had. The play also exposed Senator Joseph McCarthy for abusing his political power. The play is mainly

The witch trials in this play were based on actual events that happened in Salem in 1692. Arthur Miller’s 1953 The Crucible is a dramatization of the Salem Witch Trials. His reasoning for writing it was because everyone was hysteric about the Soviet Union and communism trying to make its way over to the United States. It was like a modern day witch hunt. In the play, Abigail Williams and a group of girls get caught in the woods. They were dancing and doing other things that puritan’s looked down upon. The girls were caught by Reverend Parris, and soon after his daughter became ‘ill’. The girls then started saying that witches came to them and told them to do bad things. They sent innocent people to hang. After studying Arthur Miller’s

John Proctor uses his honesty and good moral values to withstand the chaos of the trial, however a tragic mistake he made a couple of months ago lead to his death.

about the fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that began in the mid-spring of

As well as, his fate is bigger than what he deserves, though he tried to fix or be forgiven of all the sins he made by confessing. He understands his downfall and is aware of his mistakes (Aristotle). He does try and hide his crime with Abigail. But when it is time to confess, he does not have the courage to be freed and be saved by a lie. All this happening to Proctor makes him a tragic hero, defined by Aristotle. Likewise, Proctor portrays as being a martyr, person who is killed for their beliefs, provided that he was willing to give up his life in order to clear his name so his family will not have to live with his lie, or “sin” as well. Giles Corey also represents this trait, when he does not say a word for his indictment and gets crushed with stones on his chest, asking for more weight. He only does this to “die Christian under the law” and for his sons to have his property (Miller 125). Their purposes were different but similarly, both were sentenced for being a wizard of such or having a deal with the Devil, withholding the lechery part from

Proctor takes great pride in having an admirable reputation and, like his name, longs to keep it respectable. It took Proctor his whole life to gain the trust of the people in Salem and build

As we know, the pretext of the play is the aftermath of a war, so I

John Proctor a farmer and village commoner is similarly faced with an inner turmoil. He,