Life Or Death: Did John Proctor Make The Right Decision?

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.

The Author Charles Frazier wrote in his book Cold Mountain “[No] matter what a waste a man has made of ones life, it is ever possible to find some path to redemption, however partial” John Proctor is a prime example of this quote. Towards the beginning of the play Miller gives the reader an impression that he is a selfish and immoral man that does not care about his family or the feelings of his wife, Elizabeth. As the play goes on however Miller’s representation of proctor can sway the opinions they have of John when he decides to let himself be hanged for good reason. Within the short timeline of the story John Proctor was able to look past his mistakes and restored his morals.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in Salem in a Puritan community, John Proctor is the tragic hero because he is loving, loyal, authoritative, but his tragic flaw is his temper.The most well known definition of a tragic hero comes from Aristotle who was a great philosopher . When describing a tragic hero, he states "The change in the hero's fortunes be not from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery, and the cause of it must not lie in any depravity but in some great error on his part."He also explains the four essential qualities that a tragic hero should have, which are appropriateness, goodness,consistency, and lifelike.These necessities help, classify the character of John Proctor in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible as the tragic hero. Proctor's downfall in the play is initiated by a human flaw, which qualifies him to be the tragic hero.

He is given the order to give a confession and then says one of the most powerful quotes ever heard, “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 name!”. This then signs him his death sentence but also shows that he will do anything to receive his untarnished name. This one performance purifies his name, his wife even stating that he has reclaimed his “goodness” and that “God forbids her take it from him”, meaning, the adultery conundrum is water under the bridge. Proctor is still hanged for his crime against the Church however, but he has reclaimed his name, trophy, and soul

When you sacrifice your life for your principles, you maintain your sense of self. In the play, Proctor was hesitant to sign the confession upon hearing it would be posted on the church doors for the town to see.

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

Arthur Miller wrote play The Crucible, which is based on a real story; play begins in a very interesting moment and ends in a very dramatic scene. At the time, when the play was written, witchcraft was a big thing for people. People used witchcraft to accuse other people and take their property, or because they just don’t like them. The story shows us, how do characters have changed from the beginning of the play and until the very end. The Proctor is one of the main characters in The Crucible. During the whole play, we can see how Proctor changes. One of the main themes in The Crucible is no matter what changes people if they get into the situation where they have to make a decision about what has more meaning to them.

If he did confess, he would ruin his and his family’s reputation. John Proctor was very conflicted. He came to his wife looking insight. Elizabeth was untrusting of John because of his affair with Abigail. She said, “John, you are not open with me. You saw her with a crowd, you said. Now you—”. This illustrated that is still suspicious of John, showing that she is not a completely supportive wife. John Proctor decided to confess, he was handed the paper where he was told to sign his name to make the confession official. At this moment Proctor knew he had to keep his integrity and not sign the paper. He realized that he didn’t need the support from his wife to make the most honorable decision. John was hung for not confessing. Yet, his legacy of fighting for what you believe in still prevailed. Proctor’s death displayed great perseverance, which is an attribute, reflected in the American

By definition a Tragic Hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error or come in contact with a fatal flaw that inevitably leads to his or her own destruction. John Proctor, a farmer in the play The Crucible, is debated as a tragic hero. John Proctor suffers from a tragic flaw that leads to his demise, that fatal flaw is his excessive pride.

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.

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. John Proctor didn’t want his name to be the ruined because he felt that was all he had left. John Proctor was tragically killed for a sin he had not committed but was found a hero because people followed in his footsteps by not confessing to something they didn’t do.

“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

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.

A lesson you should learn from this play is that people make mistakes all the time. but it is how they react to their mistake is how you should judge them on it. If people do everything they can to make up for something they messed up on they are an honorable person because everyone makes mistakes, but it is what you do to fix those mistakes that makes you honorable or flawed. In the end John Proctor makes an ultimate sacrafice to make up for all the problems he had

He had very strong beliefs about his reputation and what other people would think of him and also what god would have in his future if he didn't confess. He was afraid that his name was going to be blackened and what the consequences were coming on his way. Before he was accused of witchcraft, he was afraid that his sons would never respect him and think him as a coward for carving into the court. Then he was accused of doing witchcraft and by doing that judge danforth wants to posted on the church door but proctor wouldn't stand it, by stating he is a which, john proctor feels that giving them this lie, is in line with his view of himself as a sinner in the eyes of god and a fraud in the eyes of the ones he love. By posting his signed confession holds a deeper truth for john proctor, he's not willing to shame his god, his boys, his wife and friends. He will not allow his lie to ruin the reputation of his