A tragic hero is a person who is a great and respected person but is destined for tragedy. He is admired by others and is a prominent member of the community. However, he has a flaw extreme hubris, or being too proud. Overall, a tragic hero is a good person who experiences a tragic fall from his status in the community from a bad decision that is rooted in his pride. John Proctor was a tragic hero in Arthur Miller’s classic drama The Crucible.
John Proctor was overall a pretty good person in the community. He was a prominent member in the community. “Proctor is respected and even feared in Salem…” (1269). People respected him but feared him at the same time. Proctor was a strong, easy-going kind of guy. He was the type that others did not want to anger or have for an enemy. It took a lot to fool him, because he had so much common sense. However, at times his pride
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John had a tragic fall when he finally admitted to adultery. “I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man. My honesty is broke, Elizabeth: I am no good man. Nothing spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before” (1352). Proctor cheated on his wife, but Elizabeth is compelled to lie in order to protect John’s good name. When he admitted his sin to the court, Elizabeth had no idea and lied to the court saying he didn’t. John was charged with perjury,or lying under oath, and sent to be hanged. John Proctor’s death had deep meaning for the community. At the start of the hangings, the community did not object or feel guilty, since the first few people who were executed were blights in their “perfect” Puritan society. However, the hanging of well-respected John Proctor who helped build the village of Salem was a very different story! John Proctor’s