John Proctor's Motives In The Crucible

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.

First thing first, in act one, scene three, the writer of The Crucible, Arthur Miller, introduces the affair between Proctor and his former house servant, Abigail Williams. Paraphrasing Proctor's own words, the affair was designed of only passion and lust (…). Proctor himself simply stated that the affair had nothing to do with love. In fact, when he would see Abigail while walking down the church aisle he would blush and Abigail foolishly mistakes the blushing as

There are different ways of seeing each behavior however, when it comes down to it, John Proctor is a selfish man. He had an affair with his servant whom he considers a child (Act one, Scene two) and admitted he only had the affair because he was a lustful man. Furthermore, he withheld critical information from the village which resulted in the village believing in the illusion of witchcraft and leading to the deaths of many. Last but not least, Proctor had been given an ultimatum of choosing his family or his reputation and he selfishly choose to protect his name. These are merely three demonstrations of Proctor's choice in