John Proctor's Opposition In The Crucible

The Crucible: John Proctor’s Opposition In the story known as, “The Crucible”, a character known as John Proctor has wishes and desires that conflict directly with the society where he lives and his own conscious. The ramifications for his natural and circumstantial disposition of anti-conformity clearly create conflict in between John Proctor and the town which he called home. To further investigate the reasoning behind his rebellious zeal and untimely death we need to examine John Proctor’s main two conflicts during the Salem witch trials. To begin, Mr. Proctor was no stranger to being known as an insubordinate. He would break a, very high, cultural expectation at the time by not attending church (Due mostly to his personal disagreements with the reverend). However, a big cause for his internal conflict was the affair he had with Abigail Williams ,and how in the event of the witch trials he had to overcome what was expected

While he may be a strong man that hates hypocrisy, most of the morals and beliefs he has were received from the town he lives in. He believes in the divinity known as God, and recognizes God’s influence in his life by saying, “A man may think that God sleeps, but God sees everything.” (44) In addition to the religious zeal he acquired, the customs of Salem in the late seventeenth century rubbed off on his behavior. This is shown by when he says, “How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (62) This clearly shows how he takes his word seriously enough to die for; something many people in today’s world wouldn’t even consider. Based off of these facts John Proctor isn’t purely a renegade. He exhibits traits and customs of where he lived and reflects the time period in his morals, but that still doesn’t demean the fact that he stands strong against anyone (himself of his society included) who may challenge his moral