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John Proctor Honor Or Life

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Which is more important, honor or life? John Proctor, a wealthy father and husband of Salem Village, is faced with this very question. The Village of Salem is on a witch hunt and John Proctor is due to become its next victim. If he lies to the council and the Village, and admits he is a witch, John lives, able to support his wife, sons, and unborn son. On the other hand, if he tells the truth that he is not and has never been a witch, he will be sentenced to death. Ultimately, he picks the latter, but why? John sees the atrocity of the witch hunt and realizes if he signs his name on a letter of confession, he is signing off the deaths of others to come just to save himself. Additionally, the letter of confession would be hung on the door of …show more content…

John Proctor realizes if he signed a letter of confession, he would be writing off the wrongful of deaths of those before and those to come. He even states, “I have three children - how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?” John sees from the beginning of the story that this witch hunt is all a massive ruse, comprised of false accusations and mass hysteria. As the hunt advances and the punishments worsen, innocent people start to die with no chance of fighting their case. If John doesn’t take a stand and refuses to lie, more will continue to die and no one will stop to take a second thought. John has been cynical of the trials and proceedings all along, and knows he can’t be hypocritical any longer. He discovers this once Rebecca Nurse is able to maintain her innocence in front of the council. In her own words Rebecca says, “Why, it is a lie, it is a lie; how may I damn myself? I cannot, I cannot.” John making this sacrifice shows parallels to the beliefs of the Puritans’ holy figure, Jesus. According to the Bible, Jesus was accused of being a traitor and was sentenced to death without a chance to plead his innocence. Jesus took the fault for others’ sins, this mirrors how John Proctor died because of the sins of …show more content…

If you did not go to church, this would ultimately decide your fate in the case of a witch trial, if you were accused. In Salem, John Proctor helped build this church, in fact built the door. John took great pride in this, saying, “I nailed the roof upon the church, I hung the door -” when Reverend Hale first suspects the Proctors as being in cohorts with the devil. If John signed the letter of confession, it would be nailed to this door and quite literally, wedge a nail into his pride. Everyone in the village would come to church on the Sabbath day and know he had ignored God’s word, lying for the selfish gain of saving his own life, ignorant to the loss of others. Additionally the Puritans believe in an afterlife that decides the man he would be. If he confessed to being a witch he would be a man to go to hell for lying, though if he were honest, he would be a man to continue in an abundant heaven. These views of character in a family’s patriarch were inevitably passed down throughout a family. This implies that if John’s name were ruined for being a liar, so was the entire Proctor name; his sons would maturate and live in a community that looked down on them for their father’s mistake. John understands this and tells the council “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

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John Proctor here is reinstating that he wants to continue if he has his name and if Danforth and the court cannot provide that to him he does not know how he could possibly go on. Based on the quote John’s quality of life would eventually prove to be dreary if he did confess as he would feel like he no longer had a soul. Although John knew it would be a risk for him to confess his wife helped convince him that life was worth living, but it’s his own choice. Elizabeth sorrowfully states to John “Do what you will. But let none be your judge.

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I think it is honest; I think so; I am no saint. Let Rebecca go like a saint; for me it's fraud¨ (IV. 541- 549). John gets up the courage to confessing that he had dealings with the devil even though he knows and everyone else knows that it is not true. By confessing and throwing away his selfishness to save the people who are about to hang he proves himself to be the play's protagonist.

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He refuses to lose his honor by confessing to a crime that he did not commit and will not allow his lie to go on public display:“Because it is my name! … Because I lie and sign myself to lies”(Miller 1232). His main concern is preserving his reputation and he is willing to undergo any punishment in order to feel like he has done so. He would rather be hanged than have the community think that he is a dishonest man. John Proctor is willing to rebel against the community officials in order to be at peace with himself: “Is the accuser always holy now?

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His act of defiance resulted in death, but caused the people of Salem to question the court, which prevents any future deaths for suspected witchery. By refusing to lie, John Proctor preserved his name and held up his personal convictions. However, some may say that this was self-serving, because he left his family destitute, and his wife husbandless and his children fatherless. Nevertheless, “How can I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!...Because It is my name!

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If he was to confess of witchcraft he would have been free but his good name in the village would have made other less prominent people in village to confess lies. John had never spoken with the devil and neither had the others in the village but the only way of getting out of hanging was confessing of witchcraft. Instead of taking the easy way out Proctor and confess, he took the high road saving his family’s good name for future generations (his 3 sons). Although Proctor’s family name was saved he was not and hung in the end of the

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551 Words | 3 Pages

The Crucible “The Crucible” is a play, by Arthur Miller, about the Salem Witch Trials. After reading “The Crucible”, you will be asking yourself, is it necessary for a person to suffer? The answer to the question is shown through the characters, Giles Corey, John and Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail Williams. John Proctor is a respected puritan man in the community. John had made the mistake of sleeping with, a teenage girl, Abigail Williams.

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430 Words | 2 Pages

After Proctor gives his confession and refutes it, he “tears the paper and crumples it” (144). Because of this action, Proctor’s fails to live up to his once good name in the eyes of the community, and will forever be in remembrance for being a witch because of the path of action he has taken. John Proctor’s actions conveys to the reader the necessity of a virtuous character. Before denying his confession, Proctor pleads with the court that, "[he] [has] given [them his] soul; leave [him his] name"(144)(IV.281-294). In Salem, there was no such thing of private immorality, so when John's testimony is threatened, he beseech that the court not confess his transgressions publicly because reputation is of importance in this town.

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Proctor motivates to learn how the truth can still not matter if it is not what the court wants to hear causing people to be killed and put in jail. John Proctor chooses to try to hide the affair between him and Abigail Williams , which causes half of the town of Salem going to jail for witchcraft. John is talking to Mary Warren when she is talking to him about the Devil being in Salem and they must find where he is:"I

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670 Words | 3 Pages

As written in The Crucible john proctor refuses as miller has stated, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my ,life! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang!” (Miller 1164). By saying this John Proctor has just realized and ends up trying to get the point across that he no longer wants to go through with his lie and feels guilty about the situation he is in.

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1224 Words | 5 Pages

I have rung the doom of my good name.” (Miller 111). This quote shows that even though John Proctor values his reputation and his integrity, he is willing to sacrifice them to expose the truth about the witch trials. He is willing to confess his own sins, but he will not untruthfully accuse others of witchcraft. When the judges and Hale brought Proctor in to confess to witchcraft, he instead admits his infidelity with Abigail, proving that his morals are strong.

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483 Words | 2 Pages

Proctor says “ You are the high court, your word is good enough! tell them i confessed myself; say proctor broke his knees and wept like a woman, but my name cannot!”. In the quote John Proctor does not want written proof that he was a witch because he wants to protect his friends and not throw them under the bus. This means he cares for his friends and is truly a good man. Proctor says; “ let them that near dead now take their souls, it is pretence to me.”

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705 Words | 3 Pages

John Proctor was a man of honor and had a well respected name in the town of Salem. Sadly he died tragically but as a hero. He was hanged because he was accused of doing the devil’s work. He was given the chance to save his life if he admitted on a piece of paper that he was working with the devil but he refused to tell that lie. He wanted his sons to be able to walk the streets without being shunned from the world because they deserved better.

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612 Words | 3 Pages

John could have used this opportunity to get revenge on Abigail. Instead he makes the honorable decision to personally redeem himself from his previous mistakes. Earlier in the play he claimed that Mary and the girls were “God damn all liars” (Miller 117). This quote demonstrates John judging people for their sins, which is exactly what he claimed he does not do. It shows a dramatic change in his character, a change in personal

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566 Words | 3 Pages

In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor was accused of witchcraft. John Proctor was a man of great integrity and knew he did nothing wrong. He was given the choice to confess and lie or be hung. Being the honest and stubborn man that he was, he decided his name was more important than his life. John struggled both internally and with others while trying to fight for what he thought was right.

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Honorable Last Actions In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor is portrayed as a sinful, yet appreciated man who died a moral but undeserving death. During the Salem Witch Hunt, many innocent people lost their lives. Like others, John chose death over living a life that was deceitful. John Proctor’s last actions were noble and an act of righteousness.

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