John Proctor Sacrifice In The Crucible

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. John Proctor didn’t want his name to be the ruined because he felt that was all he had left. John Proctor was tragically killed for a sin he had not committed but was found a hero because people followed in his footsteps by not confessing to something they didn’t do. “A tragic hero is a character

In Act III he says “ you whore! You are lying”. He then tells the court about their love affair and how he committed adultery. It says in the definition of a tragic hero that “ This errors usually physically and spiritually wound the tragic hero.” You see how upset and ashamed John Proctor was over his actions. He defends his wife and tells the court that his wife fired Abigail because of their affair. When the court brought Elizabeth Proctor into the court and asked her about the affair she denied it. Even though she knew the affair was true she denied it because she didn’t know Proctor had confessed and wanted to take her husband’s name

He was given the choice to either confess to being apart of witchcraft and be spared or not confess and get hanged. He is allowed to talk this over with his wife and at first they decide it would be better to confess even though they know he didn’t do anything! At this point in the play John realizes that it is not the right thing to do. He says “ How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul now give me your name.” He doesn’t want to give them the only thing that makes him who his name. He doesn’t want to disgrace his family name and hurt them for generations to come. This is an example when it says in the definition “ He is then able to accept his death with honor.” In conclusion John Proctor is the perfect example of a tragic hero. He committed adultery and in a sense, ended up dying because of it. He is a hero though. After his death nineteen other people were put to death because they refused to confess to something they had nothing to do with. He died for his sons and his wife. He wanted to protect them from being humiliated and shunned from the rest of the town. John Proctor’s was brave and noble for doing what he did. He stuck to the truth regardless of the