Examples Of Heroism In The Crucible

Tragic Heroism in The Crucible

It is better to die for what you believe in rather than to lie to save your life. This is one of the largest themes in Arthur Miller’s novel The Crucible. The character of John Proctor specifically wrestles with these issues in the second half of the book, after he has been accused of witchcraft and will be sentenced to death. Although it can be argued that the character of John Proctor is a sinner and an adulterer because of his relationship with Abigail, thus he is not a hero, he is in fact a tragic hero because this relationship eventually led to his downfall. The piece of this is that Proctor acknowledges he is not a good man, but he is eventually able to find enough goodness in himself to sacrifice himself

John Proctor is a sinner. He is an adulterer, and could never be accepted as a hero. This is true. He is a married man and he committed lechery against his wife, Elizabeth, with Abigail Williams. “In the proper place—where my beasts are bedded. On the last night of my joy, some eight months past. She used to serve me in my house, sir. A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you—see her what she is. My wife, my dear good wife, took this girl soon after, sir, and put her out on the highroad. And being what she is, a lump of vanity, sir— She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat.” (110) This quote shows that yes, John Proctor is a lecher. Abigail used to work at his house, and when John’s wife Elizabeth was sick, Proctor committed lechery with Abigail Williams. In the puritan lifestyle, this is a major crime, and John Proctor is now a sinner and will not go to heaven. How could he ever be considered a hero after this horrific crime? This is where the idea of a tragic hero comes into play, where the hero of the

Proctor is not going to lie to save his life, because in doing so he would disgrace his name and his family. When John Proctor is talking to his wife Elizabeth, they are discussing whether or not it is better to die for what you believe in or to lie to save your life. Elizabeth mentions how Giles Corey died with honor for what he believed in. He says, “I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man. She is silent. My honesty is broke, Elizabeth; I am no good man. Nothing's spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before.” (136) John Proctor is no Giles Corey. In this quote, the saint is someone like Giles, who had done nothing wrong and was going down with honor. Proctor is a sinner, so he cannot die in such honor as Giles did. John is acknowledging that he is no saint, he is an adulterer, and he has committed lechery. Next, when Proctor is confessing to witchcraft, Danforth needs Proctor to sign. In doing so, he would be bringing shame to his family, in that John Proctor lies to save his life. He says to Danforth, “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!” (143) This quote is important, because this is