both The Crucible and Twelve Angry Men, there are characters that equally stand for and are motivated by truth and justice. In Twelve Angry Men Juror Eight embodies reason and attentiveness. He refuses to “send a boy off to die without talking about it first”, much to the initial dismay of his fellow jurors. He rejects the idea of agreeing with the eleven other jurors just to make the process more efficient, and in doing so he rejects conformity. He has reasonable doubt and asserts that “no jury can declare a man guilty unless it’s sure”. However, there is some selfish motive behind his rather selfless act, The Eighth Juror wishes not to have the weight of a boy’s life weighing on his conscience. Similarly, in The Crucible John Proctor is the one to see through Abigail’s deceit. …show more content…
Proctor says to Hale “Any why not [confess] if they must hang for denying it?”. He is the only character to openly define Abigail’s performance truthfully. While the other townsfolk fearfully “part like the sea for Israel” where Abigail walks, Proctor stresses that it is in fact “vengeance [that] is walking Salem”. In the fourth act of the play, much to the relief of both Reverend Hale and Elizabeth, Proctor initially agrees to trade his good name for his life. However, he refuses to “spoil [the] good names” of the accused that refuse to confess. Judge Danforth insists that Proctor’s confession be “post[ed] upon the church door” and it is then that Proctor refuses to lie. “What other say and what I sign to is not the same!”. Proctor rips up his signed confession, refusing to sully his name and the name of his family. Similarly to Juror Eight, Proctor has some selfish motive behind his decision, he does not wish to live the rest of his life disgraced. Both Juror Eight and John Proctor are motivated by exposing lies, and by attempting to attain justice in a corrupt legal