John Proctor- Tragic Hero
By: Isaac Breon
Have you ever been accused of something that you didn’t do, and then up being hung for it? Well thats exactly what happened to John Proctor. You see, John Proctor was alive during one of the horrifying times in American history, the Salem Witch Trials, which lasted from February 1692 to May 1693. The main two characteristics that he displayed that I noticed the most were his honesty and pride. I will also be answering the question of whether or not John Proctor is a tragic hero or not.
John’s first characteristic was his honesty. John displayed his honesty from the beginning, from confessing that he had an affair with Abigail Williams and confessing to performing witchcraft, which was a crime
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John had so much of it, that he couldn’t led Judge Danforth take his name for something that he didn’t do. So, John took the document that stated that he had performed witchcraft, and ripped it up. But, before he did so, Judge Danforth asked him if he was taking back his confession, and John said that he’d rather die than have his name turned to dirt. Then, John was taken to be hung. I really liked how much pride he showed in the time leading to his death, I also liked how he recited the Lord’s Prayer, it showed that he truly did believe in God, and they were making a terrible mistake hanging him along with the two women who were hung alongside him.
Now to answer the real question, was John Proctor a tragic hero? Now, I think it could go both ways. First, yes, because even though he doesn’t show many heroic qualities, he does fight to save his wife from being accused of witchcraft, but instead is accused himself and hung. But, the idea of him fighting to save his wife just screams hero. Then there is the other side of the argument that he isn’t a tragic hero. He wasn’t born into nobility, and he doesn’t have many heroic traits. But, he seals his own tragic ending when he denies Judge Danforth the signed document saying he did indeed practice witchcraft, but he had too much pride, ripping up the document, and getting himself hung because of it. So, I’m going to lean toward the non tragic hero side, merely
The year 1692 was full of lies in Salem, Massachusetts. With a few exceptions, one of them being John Proctor, farmer and husband to Elizabeth Proctor. In all, 19 people were hanged during the Salem Witch Trials caused by lies in The Crucible. John Proctor tried to make things right by being a man of truth, was willing to stick up for innocent people, even if it meant his life and reputation diminished, and by being a man of pride.
Is John Proctor a tragic hero? If you examine his actions and morale in the Salem Witch Trials there would be an indisputable yes. Example of actions and values are in the next two paragraphs.
First John Proctor is a tragic hero because he is loving and loyal . “I will bring you home. I will bring you soon” and “I will fall like an ocean on that court! fear nothing Elizabeth.” John says this when Elizabeth is brought to jail from their house. It shows the love he has for her and he will do anything for her to get her back home. John goes to the court to tell judge Danforth that Elizabeth is innocent and that Abigail is lying and wants Elizabeth murdered “I do, sir. I believe she means to murder.” John going to the court is showing his loyalty and love towards Elizabeth knowing she is innocent and never tell lies she always tell the truth. John says “In her life, sir, she has never lied. There are them that cannot sing, and them that cannot weep-my wife cannot lie. I have
Despite these good qualities, John Proctor had many flaws as well. Lust was a constant struggle for Proctor in many forms. For instance, when Abigail was working for him and his wife, he lusted after her and committed adultery by having an affair. Afterwards, Proctor was extremely repentant and stopped seeing her. “Abby, you’ll put it out of mind. I’ll not be comin’ for you more” (Miller 21). This essentially lead to his demise because of the affair, Abigail became infatuated over Proctor to the point where she went into the woods with her friends and Tituba and practiced “witchcraft” to kill Proctor’s wife. “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife!” (Miller18). When the girls were caught and the whole “witch” hysteria broke out, people were getting accused and executed, including Proctor, who wouldn’t confess to witchcraft and died because of it. If Proctor never lusted after Abigail and had an affair with her in the first place, accusations of “witchcraft” would have never happened and his death. Throughout the book unlike many other characters, Proctor never accepted the girl's story about witchcraft to be true. He on the other hand knew
John Proctor: “God in heaven, what is John Proctor, what is John Proctor”. John is a man of strong moral beliefs, concerned only for the safety of his family and personal welfare. He cares of nothing for the beliefs of any of the other people in the town and what his supervisor which is the Reverend, thinks either. After trying to avoid involvement in the witch trials he is later prosecuted for witchery and sentenced to hang. John trys to avoid any involvement in the Salem witch trials. His reason for doing so is to protect his image because he is afraid he will be committed of adultery with Abigail Williams. Following these events he trys to save everyone’s lives by admitting to this horrible offense adultery and ends up losing the trial along with his life. He did have a chance to live but instead of signing away his name and his soul to keep his life, he wanted to die honorably with his friends not without a name, a soul, and with guilt. “John Proctors decision to die is reasonable and believable”. Reverend Parris, the Salem minister and Proctors immediate supervisor, which says “ there is either obedience or the church will burn like hell is burning.” “The church in theocratic Salem is identical with the state and the community and will surely crumble if unquestioning obedience falters in the least.” Proctor, on the other hand, “has come to regard his self as a king of fraud,” as long as he remains obedient to an authority which he cannot respect.
The motivation of John’s behavior is to be an honorable man. At the same time he knows he must confess to committing adultery, which will desecrate his name, but save the lives of the accused. In the courtroom, John confesses about his affair with abigail saying:“ She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance, and you must see it now.” (Act 3 Lines 380-384)
John Proctor, though, was accused of witchcraft as a result of all the mass hysteria that had taken place. He, in fact, did not commit the crime of witchcraft. John Proctor was urged to confess to doing the act of witchcraft and initially did. Reverend Hale had been asked to come to Salem to reconnoiter the area to see for sure if Lucifer was involved with the current events that had taken place. Reverend Hale soon realized all the lunacy that was taking place and began to suspect that the girls accusing everyone were pretending.
To begin with, Proctor was considered a strong person in the community, and he was respected for it. He was a handsome, hard-working, and revered man in the community. To the people of Salem, he was a dedicated farmer that had done nothing to blacken his family name. His attitude was “. . . even-tempered, and [he was] not easily lead. . .” by the rumors and hysteria surrounding Salem at the time of the witch accusations (Miller 21). When other were jumping to the conclusion of witchcraft and starting to fear, Proctor kept a realistic, skeptical look on the situation. Contrary to the ideas of the time, Proctor would miss church and openly disagree with Reverend Parris (Scheidt and Calandra). Despite this, he had a strong belief in God and followed his own moral standards more than strict rules the Puritan church set out at that time. He was revered in Salem as an honest man who always spoke his mind, and who had the ability to silence the hypocrites with his quick logic (Sparknotes Editors). Whenever Reverend Parris would try to tear Proctor down with criticism on his church attendance and Sunday activities, Proctor would always cou...
If he lived, he felt he would be alive but with no purpose. To survive, and falsely confess to witchcraft, John knew he would lose his name in the town. When asked why he refused to sign a declaration binding himself to the devil Proctor responded, “ Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name” (MIller, 1163)!
John Proctor faces many decisions in response to his moral dilemma to try to save his life. One of the difficult decisions John makes is to reveal that he had an affair with Abigail Williams and thereby has committed adultery. If the local court convicts him of this crime, he faces being jailed. Also by admitting this crime, John reveals a weakness in his character. This flaw in his personality will make it harder for him to stand up in the community as an honorable and believable person. In trying to convince others that witchcraft does not exist John’s dishonesty with his wife will make him less convincing to the community.
In essence, John Proctor was in fact a tragic hero, he successfully saved the life of his wife and children. His tragic flaw was that he chose lust over his family, which ultimately caused the series of events that occurred. He chose to die rather than to have his name ruined and for his wife to be punished for something that he did. He admitted to himself that he done wrong, and for that, he chose to end his
John Proctor was not only in a physical state of isolation in the jail, he is also in a mental isolation.There, he pondered what he had done, what he his life has come to, but most importantly, he wondered if telling the truth (that he and his wife did not commit witchery), was right. This is apparent when he is asked to admit to witchcraft after he had been in prison for months. As Judge Hathorne pressed John for his admittance to witchcraft, he asked Elizabeth what she wanted him to do, but his was still left uncertain when she responded, “I cannot judge you John” (Miller 135) He seemingly stands alone, with no definite answer. His wife will not tell him what to do, God has not told him when he cried out and he cannot seem to convince himself what is right. Finally, he screamed his false confession of witchcraft and signs the paper, thinking only of his life. But, then he realizes it is not this life that should matter, rather the everlasting life that his Puritanical religion promised him. All his darkened, lonely days showed him the truth of who he is, that he does “see some shred of goodness in John Proctor (...) enough to keep it from such dogs” (Miller 144). He knew that the judges and people of Salem could take away his name, his pride, and his family, but he was strong enough to recognise that they could not take away his
Lies. Death. Affairs. John Proctor had fornication with Abigail, who hates his wife and would do anything to make sure she was out of the picture. Abigail started the talk of witchcraft because her and the girls were caught dancing in the woods and she did not want to get into any trouble. John died because he was accused of witchcraft . Reverend Hale came into town and aided in pursuing the “witchcraft hunt”. In the book The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Hale is the most responsible for John Proctor’s death because when he arrived in town he started the gossip of witchcraft, he pressured and inquired the girls to give him a name, and he left the court when he could have tried to salvage the innocent people.
...nnot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!" (p. 143) By the end of the play, John has grown enough to realize that though he was wrong to have an affair, he did not lose all honor. By learning this lesson and keeping his honor right up until his death, John passes his test.
John Proctor is a good man. He is a puritan, a husband, a citizen, and an all around valuable member of the community. All of this is represented by his name. The name of John Proctor could be considered his most prized possession. It is his most priceless asset. Proctor is very strong-willed and caring. He does not set out with any intentions of hurting anyone. He is a farmer and village commoner who is faced with incredible inner turmoil. He has committed adultery and had absolutely no intentions of joining in the witch trials. After his wife got involved and eventually was set free due to the fact that she was pregnant, he feels that he can't sit back and accept what is happening to the town. John Proctor is a good and noble man and because of this he believes that he can't be hanged and die a martyr when he has this sin blooming over him every waking moment.