John Proctor's Reputation In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

One’s reputation holds great significance in the town of Salem, especially during the Salem Witch trials. The theme of preserving one’s reputation is predominant in The Crucible. Many characters went to extreme lengths to protect their reputation and this impacts how they act throughout the entire play, particularly in act four. John Proctor is a prime example of a man willing to do practically anything to maintain his good name, even die. John is a very respectable man in the city of Salem, which earns him a good reputation. During the second portion of the play John and his reputation is brought to question, which creates personal conflict within John. There are multiple reasons as to why John attempts to preserve his reputation. The primary reason is to maintain his good

By saving his reputation, John Proctor is not only saving himself but he is helping his children by providing them a positive legacy. The main reason John Proctor wants to preserve his status is because he desires to save his name. John has such a strong desire to keep his name clean he begins to scream at Judge Danforth “because it is my name!” (Miller 1334). This outburst expresses John’s immense yearning to protect his name at all costs. This elaborates that his reputation is essentially priceless to him, and it means more to him than his own life. John Proctor is not the only character in The Crucible who goes to extremes to save his reputation. Abigail also longs to uphold a good reputation. Abby’s main purpose for up keeping her social standing is to ensure she is still respected in Salem. Before the witch trials, Abby and the other females have little to no respect in society, but they quickly rise to yield a great amount of respect and soon the whole town hangs on their every word. Abigail enjoys this power and begins to expect respect, but when the town begins to question her, she quickly snaps and demands respect to