When people think of the play, “The Crucible”, they usually picture the witch trials and women being hanged, but Arthur Miller depicts the witch trials in a completely new light. He shows through a story that the witch trials were much more than just people calling others witches. There was deceit, pain, greed, and more. Through the play, we follow the character, Abigail, observe her actions and their consequences. We witness the lives of people she impacts, what happens to them, and how many times she lies to get her way. Abigail does all this for the man that she loves and had an affair with, John Proctor. If the reader begins to focus on John, his actions and what he stands for, they are easily able to recognize he portrays characteristics of the flawed nature of an individual. It is shown through the fact that he had an affair, isn’t able to forgive himself, and at the end of the book, is unable to give up something dear to him to save himself and others.
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 mist of February 1692, the small Puritan village, Salem, was anything but upbeat with trepidation on the rise. As girls whom knew not of the consequences that laid behind their actions, they repeatedly shouted out the names of people whom displeased them. This resulted in turmoil and one of the vital characters came to light. John Proctor, a mere farmer, had built himself up to be a man of honor through his family and friends. Little did they know, Proctor had a secret life which is simply the beginning of his selfish demonstrations of his own morality. Proctor demonstrates his selfish behavior through his passion-based affair, withholding the truth his mistress bestowed upon him, and also when he choose to tear apart his confession which allowed him to remain alive to tend to his children.
Everyone has a name, and some are willing to die to protect it. John Proctor was willing to die to keep his name clean of what he was being accused of. Elizabeth Proctor, or Goody Proctor, knew that her husband was a good man, and she wanted to support his choices. Goody Proctor thought that if she lied about what John had done that it would save his life, but he ended it on his own terms.
The well known drama, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, delivers an outstanding depiction of the Salem Witch Trials. With many characters deemed as selfish and or sacrificial, it gives the reader the opportunity to decide whether the character was only worried about himself or that they would risk everything for the betterment of the people around them. John Proctor can be seen as both selfish and sacrificial, but he is seen as sacrificial in my eyes. This man is willing and eventually does die to show that you should not believe everything you hear without valid
The Crucible: John Proctor’s Opposition In the story known as, “The Crucible”, a character known as John Proctor has wishes and desires that conflict directly with the society where he lives and his own conscious. The ramifications for his natural and circumstantial disposition of anti-conformity clearly create conflict in between John Proctor and the town which he called home. To further investigate the reasoning behind his rebellious zeal and untimely death we need to examine John Proctor’s main two conflicts during the Salem witch trials. To begin, Mr. Proctor was no stranger to being known as an insubordinate.
Guilt is the fact or state of having committed an offense or wrong against your moral law. Have you ever felt guilty? John Proctor did. He thought there was no way for him to be content with himself again. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, John Proctor struggles with the guilt he has for committing lechery and learns how to live with it throughout the play. This shows how the theme of guilt works through John Proctor.
Based on the tragic events of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, The Crucible is a hard-hitting tale that reflects upon the subjectivity of goodness and virtue, sparking the reflection of the importance of moral behavior during times of hardship and crisis. In an unyielding and restricted Puritan community like Salem village, a bad reputation could result in social exclusion and scorning from the community. As a result, many members of the community would go to extremes to avoid tarnishing their reputations. The Crucible asserts that those who are concerned only with protecting their standings are dangerous to a society, as they are willing to blame and hurt other people in order to protect themselves.
Guilt is emotional torture that transforms one's psychological operation. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, before the Salem witch trials emerge, John Proctor cheats on his wife Elizabeth Proctor, with young Abigail. Causing him to live with an eternal shame that generates dispute. Proctor’s endeavour is to elude from his wrongdoing, but he cannot because of the disgrace he feels himself to be when around Elizabeth. Miller shows that John Proctor's emotional and behavioral conflict rises from his guilt. Proctor’s guilt is present when he, attempts to pay for his sins by giving his wife materialistic objects, hesitates to obey his wife's suggestion to accuse Abigail of false bewitchment, and breaks out in anger for not wanting to be judged any longer.
The play The Crucible by Arthur Miller is based on true events of the Salem Witchcraft Trials but is changed in some parts to make it a better story. One exaggerated part of the play is a character named John Proctor, who has an affair with a girl named Abigale and is trying to stop the Salem Witchcraft Trials because he knows that the afflicted girls are false. While he is trying to stop the trials he ends up being accused and is hanged because he would not “confess” to being a witch. Some people think John Proctor is a flawed person because he made a lot of poor decisions, but he is actually an honorable person because he tried to make up for his mistakes.
A crucible can either be defined as a vessel of heat resisting material used for high temperature chemical reactions, or a test or trial of the most severe and decisive kind. In the Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, during the Salem Witch Trials. Witchery is thought of as evil by the puritans living there. Witchery was believed to be linked with the devil, and bad luck. In the film version of the crucible, when someone was accused of witchery, by a group of girls who claimed to be able to see the devil with them, they were brought to court. The trial would continue until this person confessed to witchery, which would break their contract with the devil, or until they were executed. One of the pillars of the community is John Proctor. John
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.
“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”(1272). These words by John Proctor exemplify his character by making, in my opinion, not a very wise decision. In the play The Crucible, John Proctor’s unwillingness can be seen as selfish because others hung before he confessed his affair with Abigail but he redeemed himself by undoing his confession and refusing to sell the court other names, which Arthur Miller used to convey a message about a crucible being put through a fire/trial and coming out in its purest form, through the character of John
Does your word mean anything to you? Does what you stand for as a person mean anything even when someone tries to take it away from you? A word John Proctor lived by, integrity, which stands for honest and moral. The religious background adds to more for their moral compass so they will go to heaven and not be sinful. The author of this play Therefore, to die for the truth is better than to live a lie.
John has the conscience of an honest man even though he has committed a severe sin, which he hides, adultery. Because of this his name is tainted, making the reader doubt the goodness in him. When Proctor reveals the truth in court, we are surprised because he has confessed knowing it will blacken his name, and he has done this in order to save his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. Because of this we are able to see that Proctor bears responsibility for what has occurred. However when he confesses, Abigail turns against him and accuses Proctor of being a witch.