John Proctor’s act of tearing up the confession is an act to regain his lost honor and integrity. Throughout the text John Proctor makes various statements about his name and how it shall not be tarnished. Proctor then tells about how he and Abigail had an affair, which tarnishes his name. That then brings forth his drive for initiative. John Proctor takes his opportunity when it comes upon him instantly and puts on a grade “A” act.
John Proctor’s name is his most prized possession. It’s strange to say a name can be a possession, but to Proctor that’s what it is, almost a trophy. He blabbers on about and makes subtle hints throughout the text about how it can’t and won’t be tarnished. Proctor says multiple quotes just in act one worrying about Abigail and what she’s saying about him. Like one quote telling Abigail “we never touched Abby”, an obvious act to keep his name pure. Or another, perhaps the most important quote of the entire drama, falling into the final act “How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”.
In Act 3, John Proctor then tarnishes his own
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He is given the order to give a confession and then says one of the most powerful quotes ever heard, “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 name!”. This then signs him his death sentence but also shows that he will do anything to receive his untarnished name. This one performance purifies his name, his wife even stating that he has reclaimed his “goodness” and that “God forbids her take it from him”, meaning, the adultery conundrum is water under the bridge. Proctor is still hanged for his crime against the Church however, but he has reclaimed his name, trophy, and soul