John Proctor's Last Actions In The Crucible

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.

Along with his land and his family, Proctor valued his name as most do. This is one reason he chose to hang. John proctor did not want his name to be tainted by even more lies. Since John’s children carried his name, he did not want them to carry his burden. Moreover, Proctor wanted his sons to inherit his land because he had issues with the church.

John Proctor refused to comply with the court or church. After the arrival of Reverend Parris, Proctor and his family quit going to church. Proctor did not trust the new Reverend. In

The Proctor family did not attend church because John disagreed with the reverend. John worked on Sundays, which was considered sin and looked down on. John Proctor also had committed adultery with Abigail Williams. In Act IV of the play, Proctor says, “Then who will judge me? God in Heaven, what is John Proctor, what is John Proctor? I think it is honest, I think so; I am no saint.” (884) Because of his impure actions in the past, Proctor wanted to die with a clean conscience.

This is important because it shows how much theology ruled the lives of the people in the 1600s. An innocent man was hanged because his accuser was almost exposed as a liar. The court was so fearful of the devil and of witches that they killed many people without any real evidence. John Proctor was accused of witchcraft; he had a chance to save his life but knew it was not the right thing to do. In order to save his family and clean his conscience, Proctor accepted his fate and chose to be