John Proctor's Motivation For The Crucible

Protection and Its Effects

A main motivation for characters’ actions in The Crucible was protection of themselves or others. There are many causes and motives for the cast of The Crucible to act as they did, but the one that stuck out to me was the need to protect and save the people of Salem, whether it be for selfish reasons or compassion for others. The focus will land on Abigail and Mercy, Parris, Mary Warren, Proctor, Elizabeth, Giles Corey, and Reverend Hale, who all share a common motive within the story, and that’s to protect someone from the events that occur. Of course, other motivations for the events in the story exist, but as a more personal push for action, it seems fitting to put more focus on protecting themselves and others.

After the madness in Salem has reached its peak, Proctor’s been condemned as a witch, Abigail made her escape from it all, and many have been hanged, Proctor won’t play along anymore. He’s offered the chance to lie to save his life or to tell the truth and hang. In a bold last line, Proctor makes his statement. “[Hale:] Man, you will hang! You cannot! [Proctor, his eyes full of tears:] I can… for now 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” (1164). Proctor faces an internal struggle throughout The Crucible in that he believes himself to be irredeemably sinful. He and Elizabeth both know of his affair with Abigail. Meanwhile, Proctor also chooses not to go to church on Sundays because he dislikes Parris and his ways. By the end of this whole situation, where he actually attempts to set things right, he surely won’t be pushed around anymore. He’s trying to make things right, so when he’s told to do the wrong thing, he chooses to die for what’s right rather than live with even less of his dwindling

It’s through this essay that I hoped to prove this wrong. The character background for everyone in The Crucible proves crucial to analyzing their motives and actions. The readers learn through this background information how each character normally acts, which can then be used to show variations in that. While there are characters like Parris and Abigail who only wish to gain power and control from their actions, many others display concern for those they care about. There are many characters in the story who act out or differently than they usually would for the sake of saving someone else. A prominent example of this would be Elizabeth’s sudden dishonesty in court in order to protect Proctor from possibly being outed for his affairs. While there are characters like Abigail who act based on self-gain, there are others like Elizabeth and Hale to counter that mindset. They think of others first before they act and ultimately put others before themselves in the