John Proctor In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

When reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller, some might think that John Proctor is a good and honest man right? Wrong. John Proctor is nothing but a fraud, a scoundrel; and even though he is respected and sometimes even feared in Salem, he has come to think of himself as a bit of a fraud. Although a sinner, Proctor keeps his secret of adultery from everyone in Salem. Abigail, John’s secret lover, and a group of girls were seen dancing in the forest. Abigail confesses about dancing with all of the girls, “Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Punman’s dead sister.” She also mentions if any of them mention anything else, that she would come to them at night and would bring a reckoning to them. When talking about the ‘other stuff,’ Abigail is referring about the rest of them knowing

Meanwhile, when Proctor and Abigail were alone and talking, Abigail tells Proctor that she has some sense that he has been looking up her window at night. Proctor does not want to admit that Abigail and him have touched so he tells her, “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut my hand off before I’ll ever reach for you again.” When Proctor tells of this, he is basically admitting that him and Abigail have in fact had an affair. At the same time, Proctor and his wife are visited by Rev. Hale to see if the Proctor household is good, and when asked to recite the 10 commandments, John forgets one and repeats the same one twice, “Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods, nor make unto thee any graven image... Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.” When John repeats the same one, Hale calls him out on it and Elizabeth has to remind him of final