John Proctor Selfishness In The Crucible

Salem Witch Trials, in the spring of 1692, was a time of chaos and turmoil in Salem, Massachusetts. The novel, The Crucible by Arthur Miller illustrates a series of accusations of witchcraft against many citizens of Salem. The Salem Witch Trials consisted of accusations, court hearings, prosecutions, and executions of people who were believed to have been possessed by the devil and therefore committed witchcraft. It was a time were citizens of Salem “accordingly looked on neighbors with some suspicion” and Salem was “a community riven with schisms” (Miller xiii). The Crucible’s tragic hero, John Proctor, a farmer in his mid-thirties who “was the kind of man – powerful of body, even-tempered, and not easily led – who cannot refuse support to partisans without drawing their deepest resentment” (Miller 19) is a man who experiences the trials first hand through his affair with Abigail Williams and through his marriage to Elizabeth. The novel follows him when he experiences the problems that his fatal flaw,

Throughout the novel, Proctor demonstrates positive qualities in regards to himself, his wife, and his community. In Act 1, Miller introduces Proctor as a man who is strong, emotionally stable, and steadfast. These qualities show the reader that Proctor is a man who behaves in a noble manner and that he is a character who the audience can admire. Even though he possesses noble like qualities, he also has character flaws that allow the audience to more easily relate to him as a character and, more importantly, a human. Those character flaws include: excessive pride, or hubris, selfishness, and being deceitful. With Proctor as The Crucible’s tragic hero, it is crucial that he possesses qualities in which the audience can admire, but also relate and identify with. With these attributes and flaws in mind, Proctor has a primary flaw, selfishness, that is the main contributor to his