At some point in everyone’s life, they’re put into a situation where they have to make an important decision that could change their life. The seriousness of the questions can differ, but, no matter the question there’s always an answer. Whether or not it’s the right answer might not ever be decided, although we all have an opinion that will help us find an answer. In the book the Crucible, John Proctor is asked one of these questions. John denies the suspicions of his witchcraft and he loses his life, leaving his wife and children without a husband or a father. John made the right decision by not confessing to witchcraft, and for many reasons. If he hadn’t, he would’ve had to live with the guilt of lying for his whole life. Not only that, but he would have to live around people that …show more content…
Also, his religion takes great pride in being truthful no matter the consequences. His relationship with God meant that the only one he needed to accept his decision was God himself. On Earth, he would have faced consequences, but in heaven, he was accepted and loved for his decision. No matter the decision he made his life was over. If he would have lived his life would have never gone back to the way it was before. He would have never been able to live peacefully again. He would have hated himself until the day he died, and that’s no way to live. In the play after John signs the paper and confessed himself to witchcraft, he tears up the paper, destroying the evidence of his confession. When asked why he says “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies!
In the final act, John went crazy after he signed a contract admitting he was a witch. He claimed the only thing he had left besides his family was his name and it's all he wanted to keep. Soon he was pushed over the edge and ripped up the paper, taking his pride away with him. Rebecca Nurse and other people from the village made John feel ashamed for signing the paper, this made a major impact on his final decision also. John was killed with his “good name”.
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.
At great personal costs to himself, John reveals Abigail’s true motivation of jealousy and desire. When he confesses to committing adultery,John knows numerous people have died or confessed to having been visited by Satan. However, the confession does not help anyone as John is being accused of
When confronted with a problem, why does the human brain default to lying? Dishonesty is never a solution, although it may seem like the best option in the spur of a moment. My grandma always gave the example of her youth: she avoided and deceived her friend’s sister because the little girl riled everyone. Come to find out, the sister passed the following month due to an illness. I could never imagine the guilt she experienced. Nevertheless, everyone has been deceitful before and many characters were in the tragedy, The Crucible, by playwright Arthur Miller. Reasons for lying are understandable, but most people will admit that mendacity has only caused pain. Lying’s outcome is never positive: it may seem like a good option, for falsehood can save a person’s life, benefit someone, and it eases stress, but these are all transitory.
The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations. The confession of Proctor would convince others in the town to confess to their
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)!
In the play, The Crucible, John Proctor dauntlessly serves as the voice of reason and justice when he is willingly ready to sacrifice his own life in order to save his innocent wife, Elizabeth Proctor, from getting hanged. With all the accusations of witchcraft that Abigail Williams made it caused mayhem in the Puritan town of Salem. Many innocent people had to be tyrannized due to her. With all of the persecution it led up to making its way to John Proctor. He as an innocent man put his life to the most fatal seconds of the entire circumstance. With everything that is happening the debatable question still stands, is John Proctor truly innocent? We presume true that he is an innocent man. Although he put his life on the line he was an ethical
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.
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.
“I want my life, … I will have my life” (137). In the drama of the “Crucible” John Proctor is accused of being a witch. John is unaware of the reason he is accused, but it is obvious that every time someone comes close to getting to the bottom of the girls lie that is the person the girls accuse. Before the beginning of the play John had committed lechery with Abigail Williams. John Proctor is almost ready to admit that he is a witch even though he is not, some reasons that he doesn’t admit it could be that it could help to make the girls seem like they are telling the truth, because he doesn’t want to live a lie and because he doesn’t want other people to look at him as a witch, nor does he want people to follow his lie and start admitting to things when they didn’t really do it. John Proctor would rather die honest than live a lie!
He tried finding some other way possible to stay alive without showing guilt. He Faced internal struggle with himself to confess of witchcraft. “It is evil is it not, It is evil” (The Crucible, Act 4) He knew the trial had been corrupted because of Abigail deceitful tongue. It only lead him believe in his truth and stand his ground. The whole village had be corrupted in john eyes. Abigail, floundering with lies, got so many people exacted, so John felt it in his power to stop this madness. He would not let evil prevail. He had hated Abigail and everything that she stood for. He wanted to be the opposite which influenced his final decision. Salem would be the same knowing hatred and lies were spread all throughout the
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
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, John Proctor, a proud and frustrated farmer of Salem, chooses to die rather than to give a false confession to witchcraft. Many might view this act as that of a selfless martyr; on the other hand, it can more readily be seen as the height of human stupidity in the face of vanity and pride.
Abigail accuses innocent people of witchcraft, including John’s wife, Elizabeth. She does this so her and John would be together and Elizabeth wouldn’t be in his life, even after John told Abigail he does not love her. He faces this crucible throughout the play and changes his demeanor towards Abigail. John becomes infuriated and he wants to expose Abigail for making false accusations of witchcraft, although it might include his confession of adultery. John eventually confesses his sin of adultery but refuses for it to be made public and posted on the church door, resulting in his
Honesty is a matter of life and death in this story. People are accused of witchcraft and if accused and you denied to anything dealing with witchcraft, you were to be hanged. On the other hand, in order to save your life, you had to confirm to witchcraft and agree with associating with the devil. What would you do if you were accused? Would you lie and agree to dealing with witchcraft and associating with the devil just to save your life? Or, would you be honest and sacrifice your life for something you didn’t do? In this story, the protagonist John Proctor plays a role of contradiction. Throughout the story, John Proctor attempts to carry out honesty when he is brought to the courtroom to admit to committing adultery with Abigail Williams and when Hale told him to confess to witchcraft and to sign his name. John refused to sign his name, the act of putting his name on paper was just too much for him. Even though he could’ve saved his life by just lying and signing the paper, he found goodness in himself and did the right