Honorable Last Actions
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor is portrayed as a sinful, yet appreciated man who died a moral but undeserving death. During the Salem Witch Hunt, many innocent people lost their lives. Like others, John chose death over living a life that was deceitful. John Proctor’s last actions were noble and an act of righteousness.
Along with his land and his family, Proctor valued his name as most do. This is one reason he chose to hang. John proctor did not want his name to be tainted by even more lies. Since John’s children carried his name, he did not want them to carry his burden. Moreover, Proctor wanted his sons to inherit his land because he had issues with the church.
John Proctor refused to comply with the court or church. After the arrival of Reverend Parris, Proctor and his family quit going to church. Proctor did not trust the new Reverend. In
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The Proctor family did not attend church because John disagreed with the reverend. John worked on Sundays, which was considered sin and looked down on. John Proctor also had committed adultery with Abigail Williams. In Act IV of the play, Proctor says, “Then who will judge me? God in Heaven, what is John Proctor, what is John Proctor? I think it is honest, I think so; I am no saint.” (884) Because of his impure actions in the past, Proctor wanted to die with a clean conscience.
This is important because it shows how much theology ruled the lives of the people in the 1600s. An innocent man was hanged because his accuser was almost exposed as a liar. The court was so fearful of the devil and of witches that they killed many people without any real evidence. John Proctor was accused of witchcraft; he had a chance to save his life but knew it was not the right thing to do. In order to save his family and clean his conscience, Proctor accepted his fate and chose to be
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Show MoreAs act III progresses Mary Warren decides to turn on Proctor saying, “John Proctor you are the Devil’s man” (Miller 121) and “I will not hang with you I love God…” (Miller 121)which then causes Proctor to lash out in rage against her lies. The court marshals arrest John and place him in jail, where Arthur Miller says they have to chain him because he throws fits of rage and he then sits like “a great bird”. (Miller 151) All of those events leads up to Proctors Tragic Flaw, which is pride. Proctors pride inevitably leads to his death because he won’t give up the good name to live out his life with his wife and children.
In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor was accused of witchcraft. John Proctor was a man of great integrity and knew he did nothing wrong. He was given the choice to confess and lie or be hung. Being the honest and stubborn man that he was, he decided his name was more important than his life. John struggled both internally and with others while trying to fight for what he thought was right.
He gave his life for his family name making sure that the people who are going to kill know not to say anything bad about his name. Proctors option of getting hung over telling everyone, which was a act of honor. It was a act of honor because he decided to get hung over letting the whole town know, and see what he had to do to keep his name good and not bad. Proctor did do some bad things, and did try and blame things on people which they did not do because
His act of defiance resulted in death, but caused the people of Salem to question the court, which prevents any future deaths for suspected witchery. By refusing to lie, John Proctor preserved his name and held up his personal convictions. However, some may say that this was self-serving, because he left his family destitute, and his wife husbandless and his children fatherless. Nevertheless, “How can I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!...Because It is my name!
Elizabeth Proctor, John’s wife told John to do what he thinks is best, disagreeing with the ideas proposed by Reverend Hale, to confess to the court. Reverend Hale’s
The last instance of his heroic bravery is when he decides to be hanged instead of going along with the lies of witchcraft. He stood up for what he believed in and ultimately had to pay the price for it. That, is true bravery from John Proctor. Another notable aspect of John Proctor is his honesty. When confronting the court about
Proctor motivates to learn how the truth can still not matter if it is not what the court wants to hear causing people to be killed and put in jail. John Proctor chooses to try to hide the affair between him and Abigail Williams , which causes half of the town of Salem going to jail for witchcraft. John is talking to Mary Warren when she is talking to him about the Devil being in Salem and they must find where he is:"I
1. John Proctor is a tall man. He has long brown hair and a short beard and mustache. He has a bold personality and cares about his family. He stands up for what he believes in no matter what the cost.
John Proctor was a man of honor and had a well respected name in the town of Salem. Sadly he died tragically but as a hero. He was hanged because he was accused of doing the devil’s work. He was given the chance to save his life if he admitted on a piece of paper that he was working with the devil but he refused to tell that lie. He wanted his sons to be able to walk the streets without being shunned from the world because they deserved better.
“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?
At the beginning of the play, John Proctor is depicted both as a proud man who kept his affair a secret from the public to protect his name, and an honorable man who built the Salem church. Before Elizabeth Proctor was accused, John Proctor tried to distance
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. Some people think John Proctor is a flawed person because he had an affair with a younger girl named Abigale
Since Proctor did not confess, this allowed for his children to inherit his land which is an important resource in the village. His death leaves his children with a father that they can look up to, and his wife’s relationship with him ‘good.’ Elizabeth : “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!” (Miller, 116) Before his wife is thrown into custody, there is tension between them because he was alone with Abigail for an instance and this reminds Elizabeth of the affair, but most importantly instills regret in Proctor’s heart, “still an everlasting funeral marches round your heart.”
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.
A name, in theory, is a word or phrase that helps you recall a person or thing. In practice, a name also helps one recall the person’s or thing’s reputation. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the characters’ decisions emphasize this quality. Not only does the name include the reputation and legacy of the people they identify, the characters’ choices and behaviors in The Crucible are motivated by the preservation of their dignity and the reputation associated with their names. By assessing the choices made, the inner personality traits of each character can be seen.