¨Hale, continuing to Elizabeth: Let you not mistake your duty as I mistook my own. I came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion; the very crowns of holy law I brought, and what I touched with my bright confidence, it died; and where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up.¨. Hale recognizes the way he had first acted when he was introduced in the play he had false confidence, was falsely assertive, a title of the best witch hunter in that region meant nothing and being a reverend, he had failed miserably to bring justice to the town of Salem. Along with being a failure he has realized that those that he had convicted were innocent and the girls that had played the system were the actual ones guilty and had escaped their well deserved punishment. The whole point of Hale being the tragic hero was that Hale would have been able to prevent all of these things onto the town but having a title does not mean you are qualified for the
In The Crucible, a drama by Arthur Miller, John Proctor demonstrates courage by speaking out for what he believes in while knowing his consequences, admitting his wrong doings with Abigail to save Elizabeth’s life, and choosing to be hanged over having his name posted on the church door because the second his signed confession is posted, his and his loved ones reputations will be ruined. In the beginning of the play all John Proctor cared about was his reputation. However, ultimately he sacrificed his reputation by telling the court he committed adultery. John telling the court he was guilty ruined his reputation, which made all hell break loose.
Whilst trying to prove Abigail and the other girls were pretending, John confesses, “I have known her [Abigail], sir” (3.110). The fact that he is willing to confess such a heavy sin for this purpose is a huge deal. He willingly, albeit reluctantly, soils his name and reputation to bring the truth to light. In the end, Proctor refuses to give a false confession that would condemn the others who were falsely accused. He decided what he felt was right and refused to stray from it.
Also in Act 4, he was highly conflicted over whether or not to confess to working with the devil to escape death. In the end, he decided lying was a sin he did not want to commit and chose to die a honest man rather than survive as a deceptive man. So in the end it is clear to see that John Proctor still is a good man despite his short-lived affair with Abigail. He was an honest, good-hearted man who wished for nothing more than to live a good life with his wife and children.
Whore!”(Miller 109).The Worst thing that people can do in Salem has committed adultery however John Proctor did along with Abigail. At that point he didn’t care if he lost the image that he was holding in the town, but he didn’t lose his wife because of something he did. Towards the ending of The Crucible John confessed doing witchcraft, but the court wants to put the written confession on the doorway of the church, but instead, he ripped it up because he already gave up his image and he drew the line at his name. “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another name in my life because I lie and sign myself to lies!
Despite the several flaws found through John Proctor's role in Arthur Miller's, "The Crucible" my analysis of Proctor's character reasons him to be a good man in the end. Within the play, John Proctor analyzes his past actions, realizing that his affair with Abigail Williams, deeply wounds his connection with his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. It is explained within the story by the author, that John Proctor's strong personality stems from his guilt. The speaker states, "He is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time but against his own vision of decent conduct" (Miller, 255).
When Hale entered the story he believed that he was going to be the savior of the town ridding them of witches. When Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor were arrested Reverend Hale was deeply shaken with his beliefs. Hale near the end of the story he tells Elizabeth that you should not have religion when it brings you harm but you should keep faith in God. Reverend Hale near ending of The Crucible is the complete opposite of the Reverend Hale that first entered the story, because he came in believing he was the authority on how to find witches, then he was shaken by arrest of Rebecca and John, and finally by him telling others to throw away religion when it brings harm to
Going on with the courtroom case at this point John Proctor didn’t want tell anyone about his adultery even to the point of him wanted to forget about it. Knowing that he and his friends are losing the result to his final hand. He confess to adultery with Abigail in order to discredit her to save his wife and his friends wife. Even with this act not working his willingness to confess of his adultery in front of the court, friends, and Judge Danforth took courage and shows his willing to sacrifice his name to save the people he cares about.
(202). The only way to prevent uprising in the village was to get John Proctor to confess to witchcraft so he would not be forced to hang. Although the court knows all of this is fraud, they must continue hanging innocent people because of the twelve that were already killed. On the other hand, some may argue that the townspeople could have just confessed, and nobody would’ve had to die. This argument is proven invalid considering the Puritan church damned all liars.
By looking at The Crucible by Arthur Miller one can see that the characterization of John Proctor reveals the theme of reputation and integrity, which is important because refusing to tell lies to protect his reputation and stop delirium from spreading throughout Salem. John Proctor states that the woman of Salem who have been locked up for witchcraft:”Excellency, does it not strike upon you that so many of these women have lived so long with such upright reputation”(3.1.305-309). Proctor represents reputation because he would rather die than have his reputation downed to a victimizer. Protecting his reputation motivates John Proctor to deny that witchcraft exists in the village. All he hears is crying out of screams and wailing which is a cause of the Devil 's work: “What 's she doing?
John Proctor denied to forget his sincerity in acknowledging his denial to deliver his life. Although he is sentenced to death and dies, he still sticks up for a trial of character, and succeeds. This piece of writing also works in an theocracy. Sworn in the name of God, both men and women, were charged and condemned of rehearsing witchcraft.
I think it is wrong to live with a lie, than die with the truth. The Salem witch trials of 1692 were filled with lies and truths. Because no one wanted to die they lied so they could live and not have a good name, than the ones telling the truth and dying for that truth. I agree with Increase Mather when he said “It would better that ten suspected witches may escape than one innocent person be condemned.” John Proctor said “Because it is my name!
Proctor begins his pleas by stating he needs assistance to get the favorable view, especially if no one steps in to show mercy. And how the Magistrates already are delusioned by the devil yet they know they are innocent. Although they were imprisoned they were still being accused of being seen making no sense to him. Then brings in how the Carriers sons were tormented till saying the “truth” but how they blamed their mother making her serve nine weeks. Even so his own son did not want to “confess” and could have continued to be tortured if no one had stepped in, which I believe if someone with power had stepped in since the start they would have not gone on that mad killing of
He accepts that the witch trials are not true. He wants to save everyone that is still alive and accused. Since he no longer believes in the witch trials, he tries to get the accused to lie. Hale wants Goody Proctor to convince John Proctor to lie and save his own life. Something else he loses faith in, is the law.
After his affair he wanted to be a more truthful man than he was. Towards the end of the play Proctor is confessing to witchcraft but refuses to involve anyone else. He discovered that the church was going to post his confession on the church door so he ripped the document in pieces. Proctor says, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another lie in my life!