“I confess to God, and God has seen my name on this. It is enough” (1356). John Proctor, a well respected man, could give his life for a lie, but would he give his name? The Crucible explores the theme of the impact of self preservation as a powerful motivator. John Proctor personifies this theme by hiding his affair, making his family stay away from the court and tears his confession into pieces. In the first act, the reader sees into the life of John Proctor and his connection to the niece of Pastor Parris, Abigail. John and Abigail have a heated, private discussion after he comes to see if Betty really is afflicted as the whole town says she is. Abigail pleads with John to, “give me a word, John. A soft word” (1270). John is at first
Accusations became widespread, and, since confession was the only way to avoid a hanging, confessions became widespread as well. When only a small group of stubborn resisters were left, the main character John Proctor had to make a difficult decision on whether he should confess or hang, and ends up hanging along with a few others to help save the integrity of their community. In his play The Crucible, Arthur Miller demonstrates that while some may view self-sacrifice as a pointless loss due to pride, the decision to sacrifice one’s life for the good of his community and the elimination of conformist attitudes is very noble. The enormity of this decision can instill a feeling of guilt and responsibility upon another, as occurs to the protagonist John Proctor, and can cause one’s views and actions to be altered.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter share remarkable parallels not only in their examination of early Puritan America, but also in the dilemma of the two main male characters, John Proctor and Arthur Dimmesdale. Both these men had sinful relations with another member of the town, and must deal with the adversity that resulted from their sin. Although both John Proctor and Reverend Dimmesdale become hypocrites in their society, Proctor overcomes his sin and is able to redeem himself, while Dimmesdale’s pride and untimely death prevent him from fully experiencing redemption.
Obedience has always been a trait present in every aspect of society. Parents have practiced enforcing discipline in their homes where children learn obedience from age one. Instructors have found it difficult to teach a lesson unless their students submit to their authority. Even after the adolescent years, law enforcement officers and governmental officials have expected citizens to uphold the law and abide by the standards set in society. Few will understand, however, that although these requirements for obedience provide positive results for development, there are also dangers to enforcing this important trait. Obedience to authority can be either profitable or perilous depending on who the individual in command is. In the film, The Crucible,
The only thing John Proctor wants to be is an honorable man in the eyes of Puritan society. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible John Proctor repeatedly tries to do good for other people. John’s motivation motivation to retain his honor is seen throughout his actions. Since John Proctor is motivated by his honor, his decision to admit he committed adultery creates doubt in the guilt of the accused.
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, various characters, whether it is from physical trials or unseen personal struggles, experience some kind of major conflict. There are those who spend every day in fear, wondering whether or not they will be falsely accused of witchcraft. There are others who struggle with more internal trials, such as forgiving those who have hurt them. The protagonist, John Proctor, was a man of strong moral constitution, and held himself to a high standard for the sake of his good name and family. As a result of this, he struggled with a major internal conflict throughout the play.
People make life or death choices every day. In The Crucible, John Proctor and others decided dying honestly was better than living a lie. At this time, countless were accused of witchcraft and working with the devil in the town of Salem, MA. In this play, Reverend Hale told Elizabeth proctor “no principle, however glorious, is worth dying for.” He argued that living a life of dishonesty is better than dying for the truth, trying to persuade John to live, but as a devil's advocate. But John believed no life was worth living if it was full of falsifies information.
John Proctor is guilty of both spoken lies and lies conveyed from his actions. John Proctor has to deal with the decision to stay true to himself and not let his frustration condemn him to falsify the truth. Accused of conjuring with the devil among many other innocent Puritans in the town, John has to face making the right decision to either be hanged and keep his soul pure or lie to save his life and oblige to the magistrates that he did indeed conjure with devil. The tendency to want to keep your life is within any human being on this Earth, however John is faced with the decision of saving his life or faulting his already remorseful heart by lying. As John Proctor makes the decision to lie and keep his life, he begins to doubt how others will now think of him knowing he conjured with the devil. When asked to sign his name on paper for the entire town to see he refuses and exclaims, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies…” (143) While John passionately speaks this, his immense frustration is finally released and shows his desire to stay true to himself and others in the town. Refusing to sign the paper conveys the lie he initially told and the truth he sought for once realizing the guilt and remorse he would have for the rest of his life. John Proctor’s feeling of frustration
The witchcraft trials became a significant event in Salem. There were 20 innocent people that died and many more accused. There is a debate on whether who was the main reason for the witchcraft trials and all the deaths of the accused. There are good arguments on about every side. Judge Danforth, Abigail Williams, John Proctor, Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris, Elizabeth Proctor and Mary Warren are all the main arguments for the blame. Personally, I believe that Abigail Williams is the main reason why the witchcraft trials came about and that so many people have died and were accused.
The Crucible is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials and is an allegory for McCarthyism, when the United States government accused people for being communists. In The Crucible John Proctor goes through many transformations, first as a selfish man who has committed adultery, to a man who is willing to sacrifice his reputation and come clean to save his wife Elizabeth, to finally a man who is willing to sacrifice his life to uphold his good name.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play of the historical fiction genre that is based on the Salem Witch Trials that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts during the 1690s. It tells the story of a man named John Proctor who is a villager of Salem during these trials. The trial starts when a group of young girls start to accuse other citizens of Salem to benefit themselves from it. Abigail Williams, the leader of these girls, was involved in an affair with John Proctor, and wanted to get rid of John’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor, and wanted to use her new deceitful power to do so. The majority of the play shows the struggle of John Proctor as he tries to expose Abigail and her group of girls and save his wife, who is eventually accused of witchcraft by Abigail. In an attempt to clear his wife’s name of any wrong doings, he admits to the judges of his affair. John was eventually sent to jail after his household helper accused him of
The Crucible was a rather strong book, it had battles both internal and external, there were also betrayals and vendettas… but a few stuck strong to their morals of what was wrong, and what was right. After the girl’s acts were, undoubtedly, in the eyes of the law, seen as entirely real, people who would not otherwise have been accused of witchcraft were now eligible to be under Satan’s spell. One John Proctor, saw himself above the nonsense, that witches could not exist in Salem, his wife, his children nor him; But, when Mary Warren said to the court that he used his spirit to drag her into court to testify against the girls, the judges deemed her word more truthful than his. After actively and repeatedly denying the claims, he was sentenced to death, for only a witch could lie in the face of god.
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, sparks a centuries-old debate about the purpose of life. Is a life without dignity and honor worth living? Are one’s obligations to family and to the world worth more than one’s pride? John Proctor contemplates these questions when he struggles with the decision of signing his confession. For Proctor, a life where one has lost their reputation is not worth living. He explains that living while others have died in silence would be like spitting on their graves and that he could not teach his children to be righteous and honorable men if he could not say that he was one. However, Proctor’s rhetoric proves to be detrimental to both him and his town. The consequences of his misguided
Throughout “The Crucible”, John Proctor is tormented by his past mistakes and haunted by his wrongdoings as the Salem Witch Trials begin. His final and most crucial decision comes when he must choose whether to lie and confess to witchcraft, saving his life, or to stick by the truth and die with his name untarnished. John Proctor made the right decision by choosing to be honest and die with his dignity.
The sacrifice of a man’s honor can save his family and their reputation. A man’s ultimate sacrifice would be losing his life for his family. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, a hero named John Proctor redeems himself after having brought distress and shame to his marriage. He defies higher authority in the town of Salem and in doing so; it leads to his demise. John Proctor is a hero because he sacrificed his life for his and his family’s honor.
The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a play filled with backstabbing and deceit, but compassion and forgiveness are the prevailing themes hovering above the rest. People in the book are engrossed in a culture which lets women do no more than cook, tend the house and read. Women and girls in this culture often become bored with their lives and attempt to find outlets and this happened in the puritan lifestyle of which the Crucible is engrossed in. Compassion is a main theme of this book which takes its effect through Hale’s actions in the court, John Proctor’s attitude towards Abigail's love and Elizabeth's forgiveness of Proctor for Adultery.