Jonathan Palumbo, Tanner Droze, and AK Henry
Jena Smith
English
3/3/23
A look at Tragic Heroes in Arthur Miller's The Crucible
The tragic downfall of heroes is something not often talked about in books, usually, the hero always wins, and good triumphs over evil. But this is not the case with John Proctor, a farmer imprisoned on false charges for attempting to expose the town's court of fraudulent evidence. “... Communities were coping with the aftermath of British and French fighting in the area, unsettled relationships with nearby Native Americans, and a recent smallpox epidemic. These circumstances made neighbors fear neighbors and stirred superstitions as people tried to understand why so many unsettling things were happening.”(“Giles Corey”), In Arthur Miller's The Crucible the town is overcome with mass hysteria after a string of “witches” are caught and hanged, leading to the climactic ending where
…show more content…
The evidence John Proctor showed to the court ended up only getting more people accused, which is what leads many not to confess to witchcraft even if it would save their life as it would put others at risk. “Then you tell me that you sat in my court, callously lying, when you knew that people would hang by your evidence?”(Miller 1200), this is one of the judges arguing with John Proctor about his evidence of Mary Warren's new confession. It shows how they believed that there had been wrong doing up until that point and that they had no idea they were being used. Their reaction to this information is all to save their reputation, and not to actually bring justice to Salem. This shows how they are corrupt and how despite John's best intentions, he was always going to fail at his overall goal, and in doing so putting more at risk of hanging in the process because of the judges not wanting the town to find out they were wrong as that would cause them to be removed from