"You don't count the dead when gods on your side," is a line from one of Bob Dylan’s songs, what Dylan was trying to say was, war is unjustifiable. But in the context of The Crucible, it has to do with the justification of the hanging of suspected witches and wizards. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller the inhabitants of the town of Salem are out for blood. The play revolves around John Proctor and his current and past actions, and whether or not he can overcome them. He has broken his own moral code and that of the time, and this has left him feeling like a fraud. John is a good man at heart though, and he strives to redeem himself by trying to correct his past wrongdoings. John proctor is a strong willed and flawed man who is …show more content…
It is not an easy process and John stumbles on the way there. In order to save himself John signs a full confession to performing witchcraft, and having signed the devils black book. He tries justifying this lie by telling himself that there is no good left in John Proctor. But by telling a lie like this he blackens everyone else who is imprisoned on charges of witchcraft. John struggles with this and he says, “I blacken all of them when this is nailed to the church the very day they hang for silence," (Miller ). John knows what he is doing is wrong, and that he is screwing over all his friends by signing the confession. At the same time John knows that being alive is better than being dead. And that drives him through the rest of act four. Johns final act and most valiant is when he refuses to sign the confession. He comes to some kind of peace with himself when he says; “I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs,” (Miller 133). John knows that there is goodness left in him and that he cant sign the confession. John also knows that being a hypocrite, something he abhors is worse than anything else. John ends his life on a good note by following his own moral code and doing what he knows is