Theme Of Courage In The Crucible

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible a town starts massacring townspeople because a group of girls are pretending to be possessed by witches.  John Proctor, a character in The Crucible, is a Non-conformist who stubbornly avoids following the crowd and is honest by not being able to lie to the court. John Proctor’s character may revealed through his refusal to sign his name on a false confession, his inability to believe in the witches in the town and his honesty when confessing to the affair with Abigail.

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

Courage is shown by many characters all throughout The Crucible, however; John Proctor and Abigail Williams are the most courageous of them all. Both John and Abigail show courage because they aren’t afraid to do anything. These are the two characters who stood to be the most courageous. After reading Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, courageousness is shown through different institutions(such as courts, religion and the church of God), yet; it is genuinely shown through the characters of the play.

In the play, The Crucible, MIller allows the reader to learn something about the world by showing us that the sins that we have committed will keep weighing us down, until we confess them. John Proctor commits adultery with Abigail Williams, and keeps this affair a secret from Elizabeth. Proctor starts to feel guilty, and mad at himself. He attempts to pretend that the affair never happened. “But I will cut off my hand before I reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind, we never touched, Abby…..Proctor, angered--at himself as well: You’ll speak nothin’ of Elizabeth!” (24) This piece of textual evidence proves that Proctor is unable to forgive himself for what he has done to Elizabeth, and what he has done to himself to lose his goodness.

John Proctor symbolizes a crucible because of the test he goes through that reveals his true character. In the middle of the story, Elizabeth is taken away because Abigail has accused her, and she is going to jail to most likely die. Proctor cannot accept this and says, “My wife will never die for me! I will bring your guts into your mouth but that goodness will not die for me” (1181) because he knows the only reason she was accused was to get back at John. Proctor knows what he has done and now his wife is going to face the consequences of it and we see his true character and strength here when he promises that he will stand up and fight for Elizabeth and will do whatever it takes to own up to his mistakes and make them right. Later in the story, Proctor is stuck in a hard place and can confess to the crime of lechery and take the punishment as it is given, or back down and let the blame fall on Elizebeth. After a long time of struggling to accept what he did, he finally lets go and confesses that he has committed lechery. This confession strengthens his character because he has done the right thing and has finally been freed of the burden

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

Martin Niemöller once said,“First they came for the communists, but I was not a communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.” The culture of accusations is a part of hysteria. As paranoia ensued in “The Crucible”, Joseph McCarthy made false allegations that influenced many peoples lives. An affair integrated in Arthur Miller’s play created controversy among the community. Trials were held for those accused and lying was the only way to survive. The harsh truth that was revealed in “The Crucible” and the parallels between the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials show patterns in which fear was used as an advantage, unsubstantiated claims occurred, and unethical punishments were given.

As J.K. Rowling once said, “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” As a country, we have struggled with numerous situations involving individuals standing up for what they believe is right. But many individuals discover the courage to be able to express their true thoughts and feelings. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, these types of situations are exhibited through John Proctor and Mary Warren speaking out against the town of Salem. This is also demonstrated in real life situations such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight for African American rights. All of these examples display the amount of boldness and strength it takes to repulse against society. Having true courage will notably separate a person apart from society.

If there is one thing that is impossible to escape in modern society, it is fear. Whether it be advertisers using frightful hypotheticals to sell a product, or politicians instilling panic into the citizens in order earn themselves a few extra votes, fear is found everywhere and anytime. With this in mind, it is no surprise that the use of fear seeps into the literature of the times, especially when the content of the work has a basis in real events from the past. Fear is an effective motivator as evidenced by the characters in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible.

And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore's vengeance, and you must see it..." (Miller 110). This is courageous of John Proctor to admit because although it will ruin his reputation, it will discredit Abigail in the court and ultimately save Elizabeth's life. Finally, the last example of John Proctor being courageous is when he rips up his confession of being a warlock. In front of everyone, Proctor rips up his confession, already knowing the consequences, "His breast heaving, his eyes staring, Proctor tears the paper and crumples it, and he is weeing in fury, but erect" (Miller 144). This is courageous of John Proctor because he knows that when he rips up the confession that he is going to be hanged. John Proctor decides to rip it up anyway so that he could die an honorable man and not have his name tainted. All of these examples prove that John Proctor is a courageous man, making him a hero in the Crucible.

In The Crucible, John Proctor is put into several sticky situations as he is determined to clear his wife’s name and dispel this corruption and nonsense of the court. Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, is put into jail and is to be tried on the accusations by Abigail Williams that

Death by rope is a scary endeavor for anyone to undergo, no matter how fearless. In The Crucible, John Proctor is me with the choice of lying to save his skin, or the option of being hanged. Lying, in a puritanical society is heavily frowned upon as a sin, while being hung means a terrible demise. This is why, when considering Proctors forgiveness of himself, the names of Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse, and his religious beliefs on lying, John made the correct decision in being hanged at the gallows.

In the book the crucible, it is about courage, weakness and truth. THroughout the book there are times where a character may either need to stand up and fight back or break under pressure. Some examples of what i am claiming are when abigail and tituba break under the pressure and say they were with the devil. Truth is also a big part in the book because all around were lies and more lies. A main example is when john proctor stands up to the little girl's claiming these things. When he shows courage against the children they know that what will happes is not going to come out in their favor. They create more and more false rumors but that is because they are too weak to tell the truth and face their punishments. I mainly believe that the

In the book John Proctor made the heroic decision of dying to save his family's name, it was an act of bravery and love. When John Proctor was accused of witchcraft he had two options. The first was to not admit to the crime and be hanged, or he could admit to witchcraft and live. Admitting to witchcraft meant ruining the family's name. The last name “Proctor” would be known as witches, the town would fear the family. If John admitted to the crime the family would have to walk around the town with people not liking or talking to them, their name would be ruined. John didn’t want that for his family. Instead he decided to sacrifice his life for the good of his children and wife. With John dying his children would be allowed to grow up the way they should, with a clean name and good reputation. John sacrificed his life to make sure his family could live the way they deserved. Self-sacrificing for the better good of the family is seen even in the Puritan times which is when The Crucible takes place.

The court decides that those who confess shall be spared their lives and those who do not will be hanged. This reversed mentality irritates Proctor and he refuses for his wife to confess to witchery only to save herself. Instead, he asserts (in court) that Elizabeth has never told a lie in her life, “In her life, sir, she have never lied. There are them that cannot sing, and them that cannot weep- my wife cannot lie. I have paid much to learn it, sir” (Miller 103). Only when Judge Danforth questions her about John and Abigail’s affair, she lies to protect her husband’s reputation putting both her and her husband behind bars. Not only does Proctor’s physical being deteriorate while in prison, but so does his will to live. When he is brought out of jail and given the opportunity to confess one more time, he struggles with truth and deceit. Proctor and his wife are well aware that if he does not confess, he will be hanged. Yet, if he does confess, he will continue to raise his growing family through confession of a lie. The fatherly persona inside of Proctor justifies his will to live, but it pains him to even consider the idea of confessing to a lie. Once he brings himself to confess, John Proctor struggles to allow the court to document the evidence. Proctor questions “with a cold, cold horror at their efficiency: Why must it [his