The Crucible: Is John Proctor A Good Man?

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.

In the Crucible, many of the characters go through changes because of the intensity of the situation. But there is only one character that I think changed the most, and that is John Proctor who is the protagonist of the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I think that John Procotor changes the most in the Crucible because he is in every act and mostly in every scene, and throughtout  the play I see more drama (Dynamic Character) in him than any other character in the Crucible and I will go through and tell you how John Proctor changes in the Crucible.     In the beginning of the play (Acts 1 and 2), we focus on John Proctor and we know that he is a good puritan citizen, a hard-working farmer and who is a husband and father.

Proctor is widely respected in the Salem community. However, he has a secret that threatens his reputation. He cheated on his wife Elizebeth Proctor with Abigail Williams. As a result, he has a strong internal conflict regarding his integrity. Proctor is a benevolent man at heart, however he has sinned according to puritan law.

Proctor is looked up to because he resembles and shows heroic characteristics in either one way or another. At the same time he is a tragic hero because of one huge flaw, an affair. The affair took place between him and Abigail. In the play they are at court and Proctor is upset because and lashes out towards Abigail. Claiming she would lead him away from Elizabeth and dance on her grave.

He started out by trying to keep the affair a secret. John lived a good life, he had lots of land, three sons, and a wife, basically all you could ask for as a Prutain back then. His lust for Abigail Williams got in the way of all that. They end up having an affair and it destroyed Proctors self-respect and he felt very guilty. He is too ashamed and fearful of what might happen to him, to let out his secret.

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 beginning of the play all John Proctor cared about was his reputation. However, ultimately he sacrificed his reputation by telling the court he committed adultery. John telling the court he was guilty ruined his reputation, which made all hell break loose.

When people are accused of a crime they didn’t commit, it often has lasting effects on them and their loved ones. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, he explores the Salem Witch trials with characters that are accused of a crime they clearly didn’t commit, and are sent to their death. In a similar fashion, the five adolescents who were accused and found guilty of a heinous crime in New York City were ultimately found innocent after they served years and had eliminated a chance of restoring their youth. In the Central Park Five court case that occurred in New York City during the late 1980’s, the idea that a hero is someone valiant is proven by Antron Mccray. In the play, the Crucible by Arthur Miller, it displays that a hero is honest based on

but he is actually honorable because when he was confronted about it by Elizabeth, his wife, then he told the truth to her about how he felt about Abigale and what he had done. He not only told his wife, but told the court judges about his affair so he can try to clear his wife’s name even though it mean a legal punishment and forfeiting his good name in the town. For example, when he was in the court talking to the judges and confessing his affair, John Proctor stated, “...for i thought of her softly. God help me I lusted, and there is a promise in such a

John Proctor is a good man despite anything others may say about him. He displays three very noble qualities throughout the witch trials which are bravery, honesty, and an overall goal to save lives even to the point where he sacrificed his. While many argue John is a bad man because he committed adultery they are entirely mistaken. Just because he had one bad sin gives no right to anybody to call him a bad person when clearly the good side of him is shown more than the bad. John Proctor is a good man who displays the characteristics of a hero and could be seen as one for giving his life for his friends.

Likewise, when Elizabeth is brought before Danforth to verify Proctor’s confession, she lies to protect her husband, whom she refers to as a “goodly man,” from suspicion (Miller, 113). The affair may have caused Elizabeth to doubt Proctor but both parties still care deeply for each other and try to protect each other from harm. Even in his last moments, Proctor’s last words- “Show honor now, show a stony heart and sink them with it!”- were directed toward Elizabeth and were full of love and care (Miller, 144). Proctor may have sinned but his regret over his affair with Abigail and the trouble he had brought upon his wife justifies his

“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?

The Crucible - Conflict Analysis John Proctor Internal: John Proctor’s most eminent internal conflict is over the sin he has committed, adultery. Proctor cheated on his wife with Abigail Williams, and this makes Proctor feel incredibly guilty because in the town, he is “respected and even feared” (19). He tried very hard, and succeeded, with keeping this moral crime to himself. He still walked about Salem as if he was “an untroubled soul,” (21) however, avoiding the sin again would be a difficult task. Abigail flirts with him, in attempt to have him for one last night, and it’s obvious Proctor has an arduous time pushing her away.

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.

The best character (The crucible) John proctor was the most admirable character in the play because he sacrifices himself for his for his children, also he was a good husband and because he was much known in the town he had a lot of problems and also a lot of things to do like, takes care of his children and a ranch that he has. In act 4 the author wrote “Because I lie and sign myself to lie! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang” (page1232) Act4. That John mean in this seen is that he was regretful about lying, and because, of him a lot of people was hang he apprehend that lying is not good and he needed to pay for his act .

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.