John Proctor's Principles, Conscience and Morality in The Crucible

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Throughout the whole play, John Proctor placed himself as a “servant” of God only and maintained that position regardless of what happened. He represented the image of a person that corresponded for God in Earth, and at the same time he acted consciously and knew what was happening in Salem. In an attempt to disengage from God, his principles, conscience, and morality acted upon him and brought him back to God. Elizabeth and his friends also affected his conscience, as the only reason why he went to the court was to try to release them. John Proctor can be considered the savior of Salem, he can be considered Jesus in that story. His name was important as it was the main reason why he decided to die with dignity instead of live for a lie; but what is the symbolism behind his name? What is conscience and why does John Proctor struggle with his?

Conscience can be defined as the awareness of right and wrong. In the Crucible, conscience orbits around Christian beliefs, meaning that people judged their own consciousness thinking religiously. Arthur Miller said “Now I wanted to move closer to a conscious hero”(font in the end) Two main ideas of conscience revolve around The Crucible; morality and the idea of guilt for comitted sins. John Proctor follows the idea of guilt when he judges himself. His conscience tells him not to lie and feel guilty for the rest of his life but he wants to live, and that is the main struggle on his mind. As Proctor, Hale also struggles later on on the play, in terms of morality. He realizes that what is going on in Salem is wrong and he feels guilty for somehow having initiated it. He tries to fix what he had done to have a lighter conscience but he fails.

John Proctor was a man of principles, that is i...

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... be feeling in case he lied. The fact that his friends would be hanged contributed even more to his decision, as when he saw Rebecca and Martha he felt like he was being dishonorable and he realized that he was going to a worst place in his afterlife in case he lied. As said, every aspect of conscious on that play revolved around christian beliefs. Proctor can certainly be compared to Jesus, for he served as an example to people and died for them in a way that they will now realize that they can change. Since Proctor was a important person in the town, people will now look with different eyes towards the Minister’s judgement. Proctor’s struggle with his consciousness was a lifelearn lesson that he could take forever with him, had he not died. Proctor, with his principles, decided that the best thing to do was die proudly and that is certainly and admirable attitude.

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