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Life Or Death: Did John Proctor Make The Right Decision?

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Life or Death: Did John Proctor Make the Right Decision? Countless people have learned about the lies and horrors of witches in 1692 during the Salem Witch trials. In The Crucible, a tragedy written by Arthur Miller, it displays the tragedy and wrongful convictions of the townsfolk of Salem. One notable character being John Proctor a well respected upperclassman in Salem who was willing to confess his sins, sacrificing his life for the greater good of his family and friends. There are many reasons people choose to do things in life whether or not they will turn out well in the end. Elizabeth Proctor, John’s wife told John to do what he thinks is best, disagreeing with the ideas proposed by Reverend Hale, to confess to the court. Reverend Hale’s …show more content…

Proctor is a well respected upperclassman and him sacrificing his life led to his family living a greater life. To the court with great emotion proctor states “ Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (143). John Proctor here is reinstating that he wants to continue if he has his name and if Danforth and the court cannot provide that to him he does not know how he could possibly go on. Based on the quote John’s quality of life would eventually prove to be dreary if he did confess as he would feel like he no longer had a soul. Although John knew it would be a risk for him to confess his wife helped convince him that life was worth living, but it’s his own choice. Elizabeth sorrowfully states to John “Do what you will. But let none be your judge. There be no higher judge under Heaven than Proctor is! Forgive me, forgive me, John—I never knew such goodness in the world!”(137). Elizabeth is explaining to Proctor that life would be worth living as they have a family to raise. Proctor’s quality of life would be affected by this choice because if Proctor chose to live with these circumstances he would be seen as awful and a as sellout by friends. Evidently based on the given information Proctor’s quality of life would be miserable, for himself and his family if he had chosen to

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Now he shows integrity for his mistakes. To prove John Proctor words, Danforth asks Cheever to bring Elizabeth to the court. When Elizabeth start to lie about adultery, we see John Proctors feeling about what he was done, he fills very bad and on responsible for things that he did in the

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The court took Elizabeth out of jail to convince John to confess to save his live. The court members know that they are innocents that's why they try to convince Proctor. He has to confess to live or die with his good name. Proctor have being thinking to confess. Elizabeth told him that she would not judge him.

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In the book, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a man by the name of John proctor is met with a very hard life decision. He had been in prison for quite some time as to being accused of witchcraft. Proctor had also cheated on his wife, with the girl that has caused all of this witchcraft mess. He was struck with a rather hard decision at a quick moments time. Would he confess to sleeping with another woman to the town?

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Proctor’s past sins of adultery are another reason it is so hard for him to give up his name; since he already views himself as a fraud, he does not deserve the glory he will get by signing away his name. Not only does Proctor care about his name, but he also cares about the other respectable citizens, such as Rebecca Nurse, who are willing to die for what they believe is right. If he signed his name for a false confession, it would have caused him to “blacken all of them… the very day they hang for silence” (Miler 207). The people who were accused and did not confess to false witchery were hanged in public as a result of their choices. By Proctor following through with giving the church his name, the impact made by the people who gave their lives would have been diminished and forgotten.

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To Confess or Not to Confess? In the play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, Miller portrays how the village is pretentious by witchcraft. In a puritan town, in Salem, Massachusetts (1692), a man named John Proctor is accused of witchcraft. When taken to the courtroom, he was given the option to confess to witchcraft and get his confession posted on the church door, or he would be hanged to die with his pride.

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In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is accused of performing witchcraft and contracting with the Devil. He is faced with the decision to either confess to or deny the accusations. Ultimately, Proctor chooses to deny the accusations and dies a martyr. Proctor’s decision to sacrifice himself is justified because he protected the reputation of those who died and risked being arrested to save his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. John Proctor’s death is justified because he was willing to sacrifice his life to protect the reputation of others.

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“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name?

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John’s respectful decision proves to his wife he loved her and meant well, also it shows the people of Salem he is a good man and will not tarnish his good name and neither should they. John Proctor is a truthful man and this act is out of the goodness of his heart. He would not shame his own name or any others in the village by creating a lie to save has life. He didn’t believe in what the church wanted him to do. He stood up to his threat and is hanged under his good and truthful

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The end of the Crucible is very suspenseful when the protagonist, John Proctor, is faced with choosing between confessing to a lie or dying for the truth. At first, Proctor is hesitant and signs the papers, confessing himself to evil, but before the signed paper is collected by the court, he tears it apart and is sentenced to death. This was his best option, for it stopped him from living a remorseful life. His decision to tear apart the signed confession was the most correct not only for himself but for his family and the community as well.

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As written in The Crucible john proctor refuses as miller has stated, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my ,life! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang!” (Miller 1164). By saying this John Proctor has just realized and ends up trying to get the point across that he no longer wants to go through with his lie and feels guilty about the situation he is in.

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Is John Proctor a good man? From the very beginning of The Crucible, he has shown himself to be a charismatic and powerful man who is not afraid to state what is on his mind. These traits would make him out to be a righteous man to question the motives of those who accuse others of witchcraft. But his affair with the young Abigail Williams taints him because of the facts that he is hypocritical over the same sin he committed. However, in the end, John Proctor proves to be a good man with pure intentions...

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John Proctor never settles for keeping his opinion or what he thinks is right to himself. He knows telling Danforth that he is guilty for adultery won’t help his cause but it shows his desperation to win the case in order protect his wife, Elizabeth. John Proctor was sick and tired of watching Abigail win with a lie, in this case he spoke the truth knowing his consequences. John states, “Excellency, forgive me, forgive me. She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave!

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He realized that he didn’t need the support from his wife to make the most honorable decision. John was hung for not confessing. Yet, his legacy of fighting for what you believe in still prevailed. Proctor’s death displayed great perseverance, which is an attribute, reflected in the American

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John Proctor was a man of honor and had a well respected name in the town of Salem. Sadly he died tragically but as a hero. He was hanged because he was accused of doing the devil’s work. He was given the chance to save his life if he admitted on a piece of paper that he was working with the devil but he refused to tell that lie. He wanted his sons to be able to walk the streets without being shunned from the world because they deserved better.

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Proctor even told them he is not something to be used to help them, “you will not use me” (4, 699). Proctor will not allow the town to use his name to save themselves for killing all the innocent people before him. Proctor even pleads with them, “I have given you my soul; leave me my name” (4, 730). Proctor is saying how the integrity he has is only left in his name since his soul has been sinned.

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