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The Crucible: Is John Proctor A Good Man?

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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... What is the measure of a good person? Is it his heroic ways, or perhaps his personality? A virtuous person can be defined in many ways. Characteristic such as being honest can up a person's reputation. Being respectable plays a big role …show more content…

He cared greatly about his family and wife even though Elizabeth was often distant towards him. In the end of the play, Proctor chooses to die rather than sign his confession, ratting out his friends and ruining his good name in the town. He did this to protect the reputation of his children so they won’t have to grow up with a lying father. Lying went against Protctors’ views and that ideal is prevalent throughout the entire play. It is revealed that as soon as he had an affair with Abigail, he confessed to Elizabeth the next day because of the guilt he was carrying around. Also in Act 4, he was highly conflicted over whether or not to confess to working with the devil to escape death. In the end, he decided lying was a sin he did not want to commit and chose to die a honest man rather than survive as a deceptive man. So in the end it is clear to see that John Proctor still is a good man despite his short-lived affair with Abigail. He was an honest, good-hearted man who wished for nothing more than to live a good life with his wife and children. He did all he could to stop the spread of vengeance and corrupting in Salem though he came too late. Even with him committing adultery, he continued through the end to be a hero with the best intentions in mind for justice and peace in his

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Even though John Proctor commits adultery he still is trying to be an honest person and has been trying to keep his name clean. When John Proctor goes to court with Mary Warren to tell the Judges the truth. When the Judges started questioning him, he admitted his affair with Abigail Williams, which put his name at risk. John Proctor was given the choice to tell the truth and be prosecuted or confess to a crime he did not commit and be set free. He chose to tell the truth and got sent to jail.

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Proctor is looked up to because he resembles and shows heroic characteristics in either one way or another. At the same time he is a tragic hero because of one huge flaw, an affair. The affair took place between him and Abigail. In the play they are at court and Proctor is upset because and lashes out towards Abigail. Claiming she would lead him away from Elizabeth and dance on her grave.

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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.

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When people are accused of a crime they didn’t commit, it often has lasting effects on them and their loved ones. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, he explores the Salem Witch trials with characters that are accused of a crime they clearly didn’t commit, and are sent to their death. In a similar fashion, the five adolescents who were accused and found guilty of a heinous crime in New York City were ultimately found innocent after they served years and had eliminated a chance of restoring their youth. In the Central Park Five court case that occurred in New York City during the late 1980’s, the idea that a hero is someone valiant is proven by Antron Mccray. In the play, the Crucible by Arthur Miller, it displays that a hero is honest based on

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John Proctor is not a good person because he committed adultery. John confesses to adultery with Abigail (Act 3 pg. 102). John is not a good man because cheating on his wife was not moral of him. To be moral it means you do what is right and committing adultery was not right of him. Elizabeth said that when she was sick John began to turn from her with Abigail (Act 3 pg. 105).

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Likewise, when Elizabeth is brought before Danforth to verify Proctor’s confession, she lies to protect her husband, whom she refers to as a “goodly man,” from suspicion (Miller, 113). The affair may have caused Elizabeth to doubt Proctor but both parties still care deeply for each other and try to protect each other from harm. Even in his last moments, Proctor’s last words- “Show honor now, show a stony heart and sink them with it!”- were directed toward Elizabeth and were full of love and care (Miller, 144). Proctor may have sinned but his regret over his affair with Abigail and the trouble he had brought upon his wife justifies his

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The best character (The crucible) John proctor was the most admirable character in the play because he sacrifices himself for his for his children, also he was a good husband and because he was much known in the town he had a lot of problems and also a lot of things to do like, takes care of his children and a ranch that he has. In act 4 the author wrote “Because I lie and sign myself to lie! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang” (page1232) Act4. That John mean in this seen is that he was regretful about lying, and because, of him a lot of people was hang he apprehend that lying is not good and he needed to pay for his act .

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Since Proctor did not confess, this allowed for his children to inherit his land which is an important resource in the village. His death leaves his children with a father that they can look up to, and his wife’s relationship with him ‘good.’ Elizabeth : “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!” (Miller, 116) Before his wife is thrown into custody, there is tension between them because he was alone with Abigail for an instance and this reminds Elizabeth of the affair, but most importantly instills regret in Proctor’s heart, “still an everlasting funeral marches round your heart.”

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In The Crucible, a drama by Arthur Miller, John Proctor demonstrates courage by speaking out for what he believes in while knowing his consequences, admitting his wrong doings with Abigail to save Elizabeth’s life, and choosing to be hanged over having his name posted on the church door because the second his signed confession is posted, his and his loved ones reputations will be ruined. In the beginning of the play all John Proctor cared about was his reputation. However, ultimately he sacrificed his reputation by telling the court he committed adultery. John telling the court he was guilty ruined his reputation, which made all hell break loose.

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In the Crucible, many of the characters go through changes because of the intensity of the situation. But there is only one character that I think changed the most, and that is John Proctor who is the protagonist of the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I think that John Procotor changes the most in the Crucible because he is in every act and mostly in every scene, and throughtout  the play I see more drama (Dynamic Character) in him than any other character in the Crucible and I will go through and tell you how John Proctor changes in the Crucible.     In the beginning of the play (Acts 1 and 2), we focus on John Proctor and we know that he is a good puritan citizen, a hard-working farmer and who is a husband and father.

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