The Crucible John Proctor Character Analysis

John Proctor is a character that I truly hold close to my heart because our life experiences are very similar. He admits his wrongs, he is strong in his beliefs, and he is able to withstand temptation. I believe John Proctor is such a strong person inside and out because he has been through a lot and never gives up on his faith in God.

People’s true character is revealed through their actions. Their morals and ethics can be told from how they choose to act in a situation. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible; the character of John Proctor is an honorable man despite having committed wrongful acts. He was able to redeem himself through acts that is considered courageous, such as when he refuses to contribute to the lie of witchcraft in Salem, when he fights for the people who were convicted of witchcraft and when he regrets being a dishonest man.

"How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave my name!" (Proctor) John Proctor a farmer, and the husband of Elizabeth. He had an affair with Abigail Williams while she worked as a servant in his house. John is a powerful man in both build and character. " John Proctor is a tormented individual. He believes his affair with Abigail irreparably damaged him in the eyes of god, his wife Elizabeth, and himself. True, Proctor did succumb to sin and commit adultery; however he lacks the capacity to forgive himself." (www.cliffsnotes.com) John Proctor goes from being loved and well respected to a sinner and later on becoming a tragic hero which was surrounded by strong feelings and beliefs.

The Crucible is a lengthy theatrical that delves into the time of the Salem witch trials. The author, Arthur Miller, depicts a dark time in which no one is safe from the questionable accusations of a few girls caught in a lie and trying to save their own skins. Miller introduces the protagonist, John Proctor, as a “sinner,” while some critics view him as a Christlike figure. John Proctor is a good man because he supports his family, practices his religion, and never fell for the witchcraft insanity that the rest of Salem fell for.

“I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang.” John Proctor is the protagonist of the Crusible, though for the first two acts, he does little to effect the flow of the story as the reader is introduced to their setting. One is thrown into Salem village as the sparks of accuzations begin to fly setting ablaze paranoya in the name of witchcraft. Abigail Williams, our antagonist uses a lie to cover up her mistakes and decides to get something out of it when she discovers that people are ignorant enough to believe her. She takes the chance to throw allegations of witchery onto John’s innocent wife, Elizabeth. The thrust behind this action comes from the fact that a year earlier she had found her way into John Proctor’s arms and with his wife out of the picture, they could dance together on her grave… though Abigail had been in his arms, she had never been in his heart. Abigail would loose complete control of her seemingly simple scheme as she would loose her only purpose she had left in life- John. John Proctors downfall occurs before our story ever begins.We watch his once stregnths become his weaknesses. The standards he held for himself were shattered and he fumbled in picking up the pieces. His downfall did not end his story, but began it as he would have to rebuild his honor and self respect when it mattered the most.

Since Abigail is the Reverends niece and grew up with a pastor in the household it seems as if she should be very humble and a good person but her human nature took a toll making her greedy therefore making her dishonest and deceptive. She is afraid that people won’t agree with her, that motivates her to get people on her side. She then falsely accuses others of witchcraft and her being the victim. Witchcraft was taken very seriously back then and it ended up ripping apart the town and caused non stop fighting by almost everyone. Abigail’s main motive is John Proctor so she tries to lie to John about his wife to get him to fall for her “She is blackening my name in the village she is telling lies about me she’s a cold swiveling

We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started”(Henry Ward Beecher). In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts Madness is consuming Salem, and everyone is accused of being with the devil. John Proctor’s affair with Abigail jump starts the witch hunts. In the Crucible Arthur Miller embodies Proctor as a tragic hero with many flaws but his fatal flaw was his pride which caused his demise. Throughout the play we witness Proctor’s transformation as a person from a sinful remorseless adulterer, repentant, and to an honorable man.

"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." There are many forms of heroes, some are big and obvious, others are small and unidentifiable, but either way, they make a difference in the world. In fact, there are several different kinds of heroes represented in The Crucible. In Arthur Miller's novel, the Crucible, the story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 during the Salem witch trials. During this time, several people, men and women alike, are falsely accused of being witches. John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth are both falsely accused of being witches, so both husband and wife need to fight for their lives. In the Crucible, John Proctor goes to great

“As a general rule . . . the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing-his sense of personal dignity” (“Tragedy”). Miller, the author of the Crucible and the Tragedy and the Common Man, said these words to prove that a tragic play is not meant to be pessimistic, but more optimistic. In The Crucible, John Proctor, a farmer that proves to be the protagonist, goes through a dramatic change throughout the play; learning to forgive himself for his flaws, and in the end to have pride and stand up for what is right.

In the story the Crucible by Arthur Miller, there are countless characters that have made good and bad decisions. Nobody is so perfect that they have never made a mistake, that is just the way life is. “We are not given a good life or a bad life. We are given a life, it’s up to us to make it good or bad” stated by Ward Foley. In the Crucible, one character known as John Proctor had made one awful mistake by having an affair with Abigail Williams. He has also made multiple good choices also. He’s a loving father, he sacrifices himself for others, and he is an honorable man.

“The true hero is flawed. The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles – preferably of his own making – in order to triumph” (Garth Stein). In this quote, Stein perfectly describes one of the many themes portrayed in The Crucible. In the story The Crucible by Arthur Miller a group of groups in Puritan society are caught dancing in the woods and blame their actions on witchcraft. Soon after the girls bring up witchcraft, a chain reaction starts through the town and people are accused of witchcraft left and right, and so begins the Salem witch trials. Many innocent people are accused punished and occasionally even killed. One man, John Proctor, is accused but becomes somewhat of a hero in the story even though he has made mistakes in his life. The Crucible depicts this idea that a man can be a hero in spite of having some flaws. Proctor’s biggest flaw is an affair with his servant Abigail Williams. John Proctor made many other mistakes in his life but his bravery, his nonconformist attitude and his pride are the traits that made him an

In the play “The Crucible”, by Arthur Miller Proctor goes through many problems that challenge who he is as a person in the end of the play. Which demonstrates the struggle of staying true to who you are. In the end, even though Proctor faced problems that challenged who he was he chose to take the noble way out and die an honest man. The three main challenges Proctor went through were lying, being a loyal friend, and telling the truth.

The consequences of shirking accountability for ones actions are depicted through the tribulations John Proctor faced, in Arthur Miller's, The Crucible. Although John reluctantly became involved in the Salem witch trials, his initial silence proved to be the downfall of not only himself, but of his fellow townspeople as well. John Proctor remained silent for one reason, and that was to protect himself. As a result of his self-serving desires to avoid the consequences of his actions, innocent citizens were put to death.

In The Crucible the characters all show different kind of growth throughout the story. The story is based of a town called Salem and when the Devil hit Salem all the people started to turn on each other. What started of as a little joke between girls turned into a whole game for them to play. The girls accused anyone they saw or anyone that did them wrong and each and every time those same people were hanged. Although, this play is mostly about the witchcraft the people also changed as time went by and they started to understand what was happening and why it was wrong.

Clouds disperse across the sky, allowing streaks of sunlight to slightly break through, illuminating the gravestone faintly