The Trials and Testimonies of John Proctor The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in the spring and fall of 1692 in a small, Puritan town in Salem, Massachusetts. The times are often desperate with people wondering if they can trust their neighbors that they have known all of their life, people who have been settled in the town since it first cropped into existence. Fear races through the villages like the whispers of the wind that stir the hanging bodies on the village greens. The Salem Witch Trials are occurring and no man, woman, or child is safe lest they follow the rules of the theocracy set about by the church and government.
The Reason Behind John Proctor's Downfall In The Crucible, John Proctor is considered to be a tragic hero because he lets his pride get the best of him. He is faced with two difficult decisions and a sinful past that has come back to haunt him. While he yearns to make the right decision, he knows that the consequences could greatly affect him for the rest of his life. In the end, John possesses a tragic flaw of extreme pride, that will ultimately lead to his destruction.
Though the Crucible is fiction, the allegorical character of John Proctor reflects the author, Arthur MIller in the following ways. The Crucible is a comparison to the real life “witch trials “ which we're going on in the real world. Arthur Miller used The Crucible as a way to protest the Red Scare to compare how very similar Salem’s witch trials were to this accusation of communism. The red scare was the inoperable fear of communism within the United States. The Salem trials and communism were times so fearful, when accused you were guilty no matter the verdict.
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, Arthur Miller makes one of his particular beliefs vehemently clear: the preservation of one’s reputation is more important than the preservation of one’s life. This notion is most distinctly presented through the setting he chooses, the culture he depicts, and the characters he develops. Using such elements, a tug of war between wanting to survive and wanting to protect their “good names” is created within each character. When the war is fought inside a protagonist, protecting one’s image takes precedence almost every time.
Miller uses the characterization of Proctor to represent good and evil in Act II. The character John Proctor is both good and evil, although he is not loyal to his wife, but towards the end of the act, Elizabeth Proctor gets accused of being a witch and Proctor becomes very defensive of her. Towards the beginning of Act II, Proctor admits, “She told me in a room alone - I have no proof for it.” (Miller, 51). He lied to Elizabeth’s face earlier in the book, telling her he was never alone with Abigail, because he had an affair with her he did not want Elizabeth to know they were in a room alone.
Life or Death: Did John Proctor Make the Right Decision? Countless people have learned about the lies and horrors of witches in 1692 during the Salem Witch trials. In The Crucible, a tragedy written by Arthur Miller, it displays the tragedy and wrongful convictions of the townsfolk of Salem. One notable character being John Proctor a well respected upperclassman in Salem who was willing to confess his sins, sacrificing his life for the greater good of his family and friends. There are many reasons people choose to do things in life whether or not they will turn out well in the end.
In the late sixteenth century the idea of witchcraft was defined as working with the Devil to perform dark magic. In the town of Salem in Massachusetts, the idea of witchcraft spreads as many townspeople scramble to save their name from blackening. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the importance of reputation is depicted as many people of Salem use their reputation to free them from the numerous trials of accused witchcraft. John Proctor displayed the importance of his reputation by protecting himself and other citizens of Salem during many accusations against them.
Rumor Has It In the United States, sports stars are constantly being judged for what they do. Some people are known for having a bad reputation such as Tom Brady for the allegations of him cheating. The same can be said about the characters in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The Crucible was based on the Salem Witch Trials where there was suspicion of witches in Salem which caused many people to be hanged.
Reputation is what one is perceived as or what they are associated with. Reputation is everything in a small town. In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, this is especially true in the meager town of Salem where social standing is tied to one’s ability to follow religious rules. Having a good name is how you do business with others or get a fair hearing. Miller addresses the theme of reputation in The Crucible through Parris, Proctor and Abigail’s actions showing how far one will go to keep their reputation untarnished.
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
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the people of Salem rely heavily on their reputations, which in the face of witchcraft, leads to false accusations and hysteria. Abigail showed her fear of a blackened reputation through her hasty accusations when being accused herself. In The Crucible when Abigail is trapped in a web of her own lies, she is accused of calling the Devil. With all eyes on her, and a need to save her reputation, she quickly replies, “I never called him!
Repenting sins is mostly believed to reset fate and open the golden gates to Heaven. John Proctor, one of the main characters in The Crucible, is a primary example of this. People could view John as a sinner attributed to him cheating on his wife Elizabeth, but he is vindicated through remorse. Proctor, in Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, is portrayed as a Christian man even though in the beginning he is not, due to the face of him seeking redemption for his sins and sacrificing himself for others.
3rd, Meyer, Cyrus Proctor’s Journey John Proctor, one of the main characters in Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, defines the perception of a sinned man. The play explains an outbreak in a village in which a Puritan society using a theocracy government convicts hundreds on the word of a few girls, falsely accusing townspeople of witchcraft, therefore bringing havoc to the town and John seeks to end the lies of the main antagonist, Abigail. Through the play, Proctor gets introduced to many different situations showing the reader changes of Proctor’s character such as being depicted as a corrupted, sinned man in the beginning of the play to a righteous character near the end. In the second act, John Proctor acts very aggressive towards others and commits cruel acts in the name of his Puritan village showing a lack of good moral values as well as respect for others.