Troy 's hatred of his father acts as a catalyst for many moments in Troy 's life, in negative and positive ways alike. Unlike most fathers, Troy 's father didn 't leave him with a material possession such as a house but instead left him with emotional baggage that crippled the earlier and later parts of Troy 's life. From the beginning, Troy 's father was abusive to his mother and all of his siblings. Troy and his family worked hard on their father 's farm and endured his bitterness towards being a sharecropper. Troy states that his father was greedy and would put his own personal needs above the needs of the family.
John proclaims that he does this “[b]ecause it is [his] name! Because [he] cannot have another in [his] life! Because [he lies and signs himself] to lies! Because [he is not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may [he] live without [his] name?
The greek God, Antaeus, and Olaf are similar because they both rely on the ground underneath them. Olaf’s home is on the soil he has farmed all his life, it is where he finds comfort and he feels confident about himself while there, but he does not enjoy going into town because it is where his wife was not accepted. Antaeus is the same way. He gets his power and strength from the ground, and without it he loses the battle. Olaf’s farm was an important part of his life.
Danforth responds saying “ I cannot hear you.” His response shows that he could not bear to hear the truth of the situation. The conflict in The Crucible could have had a different outcome, if Judge Danforth had seen through the facade that was presented to him. He was fed lies, beginning with Abigail’s wild stories.
He waits patiently for the crop because he has learned that until all conditions are right, there is no need to expect a crop. Perhaps the point James is making here is
“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?
Because I am not worth the dust on the feet them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (The Crucible P.211). It is apparent that John Proctor would give away anything to protect his name and his pride.
You can see that John Proctor is a good man, he tries to help everyone and he does not meddle in the lives of others, he is considered an upstanding member of the community. John Proctor is a hardworking middle aged farmer, husband, and father. People love and respect him although they know he is not without human failing. For example with Mary, when the Counsel take Proctor’s wife, He starts to scream at her and almost hits her. I understand that he doesn’t want to lose his wife but, he can be gentler with her or when he has an affair with their teenage servant Abigail Williams, a girl that tells lies, manipulates her friends and the entire town, and eventually sends innocent people to their deaths.
As a result, all he has left to prove his worth is his courage and strength. He feels that it is his role to be a rock of the family, hence his unwavering commitment to his land. Above all, this pride and obligation to his land blind him from the reality of his environment. He has too much faith in the land and has invested too much to ever have an unbiased judgment of his conditions. Paul’s thought process is impaired by a looming surreal numbness to his situation.
He is also honorable because he will not have his name written on the church door. If his name it posted it will only give the people of Salem a bad example. Lastly, with refusing to write his name, Proctor is standing up for the people who were wrongly
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in Salem, a small town in Massachusetts Bay in colonial America. As Puritans, the people of Salem were faithful, but close-minded and judgmental; they believed they were to be a “City on a Hill”. The more negative qualities of the people of Salem caused them to believe that the darker side of their faith—witches and demons— were always walking among them. Additionally, the Puritans’ strict and conservative faith led to the suppression of “sinful” feelings such as lust and violence. The fact that the people of Salem had no process for washing away sins, thus letting hypocrisy fester and grow, was one of the major causes of the Salem witch trials.
The controlling nature of John Proctor towards those who work for him also reinforces the statement made by Vowell. Although Proctor is considered to be a good man, he reveals a tendency to be controlling towards his servants. When Mary Warren comes running towards the Proctors’ home after attending the trial, John Proctor tries to force her to testify against Abigail Williams in court. He says, “You will tell the court how that poppet come here and who stuck the needle in” (Miller, Act 2). Proctor is very menacing as he delivers his dialogue.
People have to go through a hard crucible situation when someone point finger at them such as jews. It is kind of like nature of human to think about themselves first and protect themselves, but it takes too much courage for a person to stay with what they believe or accept their fault. Arthur Miller’s story which was played in The Crucible had actually happened in a village when people had to go through a difficult life choice in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. For a guilt/adultery, John Proctor faced a terrible persecution, Rebecca Nurse, a honorable woman in the society, who faced a horrible penalty of death; even though Reverend Parris (minister of the Salem) could have saved all the people if he hadn’t cared about his rising reputation so much. Arthur Miller expresses people’s reactions to turmoil in The Crucible: the title effectively captures the struggles the character have to face.