The Crucible John Proctor Character Analysis Essay
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is filled with lies and conspiracies, and most characters in the play give their best effort to lie their way out of the problem. However, John Proctor is one of the few characters who struggles to display moral character. In the beginning of the play he hides his sin in shame and he hopes nobody discovers his secret. Towards the end, he realizes he must admit to committing adultery with Abigail in order to save his wife and redeem himself from his own sin. In the beginning of the play John is regretful of his sin and wants to keep it hidden. John only wishes to move on and he wants to move on from Abigail. In the play John declares this to Abigail, “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. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched Abby” (22). What Proctor says proves he has no feelings for Abigail, and all he wants to hide the fact that they slept together Proctor wants to pretend his life is normal and nothing ever went on between the two of them. This happens to be a very low point in Proctor’s life and he feels guilty for his sin and lies he desires for his life to be how it was before he committed adultery with Abigail. In Act II, he talks with his wife and there is a lot of tension between
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them. Proctor knows that the sin he committed was wrong and he wants to show his wife he still cares for her, but he chooses to keep his sinful nature a secret and has to carry the burden of that on his shoulders at all times. He is reminded of his sin everytime he sees Abigail or his wife Elizabeth.
As the play continues John’s wife is being accused of witchcraft and he journey’s to court to try to prove Abigail is lying about the witches in Salem.His attempts at convicting Abigail are failing, and his wife will die if he cannot prove Abigail’s allegations about witchcraft are false. John runs out of options and decides the only way to free his wife is confess his sin with Abigail.
PROCTOR. breathless and in agony: It is a whore!
DANFORTH. dumfounded: You charge-?
ABIGAIL. Mr. Danforth, he is lying!
PROCTOR. Mark her! Now she’ll suck a scream to stab me with, but-
DANFORTH. You will prove this! This will not pass!
PROCTOR. trembling, his life collapsing about him: I have known her, sir. I have known her.
PROCTOR. Oh Francis, I wish you had some evil in you that you might know me! To Danforth: A man will not cast away his good name. You surely know that. (102)
At this point Proctor does not know what to do in order to get the court on his side, so he finally confesses his sin to try to get Abigail convicted. He threw away his whole life and his good name as a sacrifice to Elizabeth. This action conveys John genuinely wants to turn away from that sin and he could no longer hide from his lies. John confessing to committing adultery was the only chance he had to save his wife. Later on in Act IV, Danforth begs John to sign a confession saying he was involved with the witchcraft and the girls, but John refuses to sign it because he does not want to lie anymore, he would rather be hanged then lie again. He signs the confession but then he tears it up because he does not want his name to be ravaged. In the end John’s burden was lifted because he knew he would die telling the truth not a lie.
In conclusion, John Proctor became a very different man in the end than he was in the beginning.
At the start he ran away from a terrible sin and could barely live with it, but by the end he needed to confess his sinful ways and in doing this lifted the burden of his sin off his shoulders. Even in death he triumphed by refusing to give Danforth names and sign the confession. Arthur Miller really strived to show John Proctor's fall and rise. he wanted to portray that not everyone . Some people can reclaim themselves just like Proctor. Proctor truly redeems himself in the end by standing for what he believed was right and he chose to die as an honest man instead of a
liar.
them. Proctor knows that the sin he committed was wrong and he wants to show his wife he still cares for her, but he chooses to keep his sinful nature a secret and has to carry the burden of that on his shoulders at all times. He is reminded of his sin everytime he sees Abigail or his wife Elizabeth.
As the play continues John’s wife is being accused of witchcraft and he journey’s to court to try to prove Abigail is lying about the witches in Salem.His attempts at convicting Abigail are failing, and his wife will die if he cannot prove Abigail’s allegations about witchcraft are false. John runs out of options and decides the only way to free his wife is confess his sin with Abigail.
PROCTOR. breathless and in agony: It is a whore!
DANFORTH. dumfounded: You charge-?
ABIGAIL. Mr. Danforth, he is lying!
PROCTOR. Mark her! Now she’ll suck a scream to stab me with, but-
DANFORTH. You will prove this! This will not pass!
PROCTOR. trembling, his life collapsing about him: I have known her, sir. I have known her.
PROCTOR. Oh Francis, I wish you had some evil in you that you might know me! To Danforth: A man will not cast away his good name. You surely know that. (102)
At this point Proctor does not know what to do in order to get the court on his side, so he finally confesses his sin to try to get Abigail convicted. He threw away his whole life and his good name as a sacrifice to Elizabeth. This action conveys John genuinely wants to turn away from that sin and he could no longer hide from his lies. John confessing to committing adultery was the only chance he had to save his wife. Later on in Act IV, Danforth begs John to sign a confession saying he was involved with the witchcraft and the girls, but John refuses to sign it because he does not want to lie anymore, he would rather be hanged then lie again. He signs the confession but then he tears it up because he does not want his name to be ravaged. In the end John’s burden was lifted because he knew he would die telling the truth not a lie.
In conclusion, John Proctor became a very different man in the end than he was in the beginning.
At the start he ran away from a terrible sin and could barely live with it, but by the end he needed to confess his sinful ways and in doing this lifted the burden of his sin off his shoulders. Even in death he triumphed by refusing to give Danforth names and sign the confession. Arthur Miller really strived to show John Proctor's fall and rise. he wanted to portray that not everyone . Some people can reclaim themselves just like Proctor. Proctor truly redeems himself in the end by standing for what he believed was right and he chose to die as an honest man instead of a
liar.