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John Proctor Foolishness Quotes In The Crucible

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Selfishness is one of the most blinding character traits a person can have. Many think the iconic play The Crucible teaches an important lesson to take responsibility for ones actions. In addition, the character John Proctor is considered an honorable, noble hero. However, that is far from the truth. At the end of the play, John Proctor confessed that he worked for the devil and did not see anyone else when the devil came to him. However, John refused to let his confession be public. Many people of Salem were accused of witchcraft because they wanted something to blame their mishaps on. If Proctor allowed his confession to be displayed, the blame would be on him. John cried, "I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”(Arthur Miller Pg. 143) John did not want his reputation to tarnish, so he decided not to go through with the confession. John knew he would die, but he would have rather died than people look down upon him. …show more content…

Before Act I, John had had an affair with a young girl. If John were not self-centered, Abigail, his mistress, would not have resorted to witchcraft in order to keep John. Instead, he should have stayed loyal to his wife. Subsequently, in Act II, Reverend Hale visits the Proctor household to question the couple of their faith. Goody Proctor convinced Hale of her relationship with God, so Hale questions Proctor. Johns task was to recite the Ten Commandments. Unfortunately, he could only list nine. The commandment he missed was adultery which was coincidently the commandment that John had not been able to follow. Not only could John not recite all Ten Commandments, but his family rarely went to church. There were immideate red flags for the Proctor family. If John were closer to God and responsible enough to do what was right, he would not have put them at as much risk of

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