How Is John Proctor Portrayed In The Crucible

Personal character traits are the attitudes you have toward your activities and the challenges they present. These traits may be positive, negative or often in between, depending on the situation. Many negative character traits were depicted in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. He discussed the guilt of personal private sin, loss of emotional control and the worst of all jealousy. Negative personal character traits can lead to failure or frustration. These characteristics will affect you throughout your life. The story revolves around Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The author converses about witchcraft and displays many issues in the town of Salem. These above traits are still found in our times because we don’t live in an ideal society.

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Many people live their lives consumed by guilt about things that they have done in their pasts. John Proctor had everything an average Puritan man could want: a successful farm to ceaselessly toil upon, three sons to discipline, and a beautiful wife with whom to make a home. Proctor was a stand-up guy who spoke his mind. Around town, his name was synonymous with honor and integrity. He took pleasure in exposing hypocrisy and was respected for it. Most importantly, John Proctor respected himself. Then came Abigail Williams, who he made the mistake of his life with. John made the mistake of committing adultery with her. To make things worse, it was also lechery, as Proctor was in his forties and Abigail was just seventeen. All it took was one shameful encounter to destroy John's most prized possession: his self-respect. John Proctor is extremely guilty of his affair with Abigail. He confessed to this guilt in court. Proctors confession only succeeds only in leading to his arrest and conviction as a witch. He doesn’t admit to being a witch and does not want to write the confession. He doesn’t want to lie because he knows its not something he should do. Instead he rather gets hanged then to lie and lose his respectability in the society. Another character that displays this trait would be Mr. Putnam. He was very greedy wanted more and more land. He accused many people of witchcraft, and once they were hanged, he would buy their land. Thomas Putnam uses witch trials to increase his wealth. Mr. Putnam accused George Jacobs of witchcraft so he can buy up Jacob’s land. Giles Corey claims that a reliable witness overheard Putnam making an incriminating statement. However, when Corey refuses to name the witness for fear that the witness will be arrested, Danforth jails Corey. Corey was held in contempt of court and went to jail for this reason. He