The Crucible

Fear stimulates a plethora characters within the play. A few of the characters within the play whose judgments are influenced by fear are John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Mary Warren. Fear is a major driving force for the characters. It forces the characters to act upon emotions rather than logical thinking. Franklin Delano Roosevelt the 32nd President of the United States said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” in his inauguration on March 4, 1933. John Proctor is a well-respected and honorable man in the community. He has character and good morals. He is an honest and upright man, but he is not perfect. He had an affair with Abigail Williams. In Act One, page twenty – three Abigail says “I have a sense for heat, John, and yours has drawn me to my window, and I have seen you looking up, burning in the loneliness. Do you tell me you’ve never looked up at my window?” “I may have looked up.” John says but he also adds “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But, I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again.” Abigail used to work for the Proctors and when Elizabeth was ill, John was lonely and had an affair with Abigail. John Proctor is now trying to remain faithful to Elizabeth and will not hear a word against her. When Abigail says something about Elizabeth, John gets angry and says “You’ll speak nothin’ of Elizabeth!”. When she continues to talk about her he shakes her and asks “Do you look for whippin’?” When Abigail starts accusing innocent people without any evidence (McCarthyism) of witchcraft, Elizabeth tells John that he has to go to Salem and tell the court Abigail is lying. Fear is a motivating force behind John, because he is scared that if he testifies against Abigail than everyone might find out about their affair. He is scared that his high reputation in the community might get tarnished. nAlthough in Act Three, page one hundred ten John confesses to having an affair with Abigail. He also says that Abigail