John Proctor's Ethos In The Crucible

In John Proctor’s sudden confession of committing adultery, Miller used strong ethos and pathos to help further his agenda. He used disinterest, a rhetorical ethos device, to show that he reluctantly confessed for the greater good. By casting away his reputation, he made a personal sacrifice to show that his revelation helped the people of Salem more than it helped him. Throughout the play, Proctor concealed his disloyalty to his wife from the public; however, he finally came to terms with his sin to save Elizabeth and other innocent people from the trials. John used a rhetorical tool called the reluctant conclusion during his confession, which is blatant by the uneasiness/hesitancy he displayed. John Proctor lost his credibility and appeared

During a time when Salem was overrun with witchcraft hysteria, very few people were resilient enough to stay devoted to their religion/morals. Miller frames history by demonstrating how a few individuals were devoted enough to combat the communist trials regardless of the consequences. Since the confession required John to blame another person in Salem of committing witchcraft, he chose to hang instead of betraying his comrades, for he did not want to fuel the witchcraft hysteria/blacken his name. Ethos were of high importance to Proctor and he valued his character above all else. He used an ethos tool called screw up recovery to enhance his character through his own errors. By describing how he failed to meet his own high moral standards throughout the play, Proctor corrected the mistakes he made and he appeared to be a highly virtuous character to the audience. Miller depicts John Proctor as a hero because he was able to rise above the trials/actively defy them. Although John intended to make a false confession to spare his life, he refrained from blaming his innocent friends such as Rebecca Nurse; therefore, his confession did not count and he was sentenced to hang. Proctor uses a logos tool called reduction ad absurdum to prove to Hale and Danforth that making a false confession is absurd/illogical; therefore, he justifies his decision to hang. He