The Crucible - Do You Consider Proctor to Be Heroic?
Do you consider Proctor to be heroic?
As Proctor signs away his soul and seals himself to lies, he cries the agonising statement that renders the audience and readers helpless. “Proctor: [with a cry of his soul] … I have given you my soul, leave me my name!”Is Proctor a hero? What is a hero? What makes somebody a hero?
Hero: a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. [dictionary.com]
Every hero has a flaw; an Achilles heel, so to speak. This is usually the issue that signifies the hero’s collapse – it is what makes them human and able to relate to. Miller portrays Proctor as a character of very little self-compassion; so little that this is what almost brings Proctor’s downfall. But the essence that makes a hero who they are is the fact that they manage to either work with or overcome these flaws.
In the very beginning of the play, Miller fabricates Proctor as a well respected character, who knows from the very start that he is no saint “Proctor, respected and even feared in Salem, has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud”. In relation to the other characters, Proctor was a man whose good opinion would be a privilege they treasure “He was a kind of man powerful in body”. This complex character Miller had contrived was someone they would not want to oppose in an argument – could this be the hero of our story? A character whose portrayal is one of a looming opposition who is, if anything, feared by the fictional people of Salem?
In my opinion, when first reading this and from what I imagined the audience must have felt as the play was being narrated, I felt that Proctor’s character was portrayed as a poisonous wallflower, forever opening self inflicted wounds and taking out his resentment on others “He is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time, but against his own vision of decent conduct.” In no way did I consider him as a hero, a saviour, a saint, or “a good man”.
Miller
As Proctor signs away his soul and seals himself to lies, he cries the agonising statement that renders the audience and readers helpless. “Proctor: [with a cry of his soul] … I have given you my soul, leave me my name!”Is Proctor a hero? What is a hero? What makes somebody a hero?
Hero: a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. [dictionary.com]
Every hero has a flaw; an Achilles heel, so to speak. This is usually the issue that signifies the hero’s collapse – it is what makes them human and able to relate to. Miller portrays Proctor as a character of very little self-compassion; so little that this is what almost brings Proctor’s downfall. But the essence that makes a hero who they are is the fact that they manage to either work with or overcome these flaws.
In the very beginning of the play, Miller fabricates Proctor as a well respected character, who knows from the very start that he is no saint “Proctor, respected and even feared in Salem, has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud”. In relation to the other characters, Proctor was a man whose good opinion would be a privilege they treasure “He was a kind of man powerful in body”. This complex character Miller had contrived was someone they would not want to oppose in an argument – could this be the hero of our story? A character whose portrayal is one of a looming opposition who is, if anything, feared by the fictional people of Salem?
In my opinion, when first reading this and from what I imagined the audience must have felt as the play was being narrated, I felt that Proctor’s character was portrayed as a poisonous wallflower, forever opening self inflicted wounds and taking out his resentment on others “He is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time, but against his own vision of decent conduct.” In no way did I consider him as a hero, a saviour, a saint, or “a good man”.
Miller