John Proctor, a more lovable what you might call protagonist of the book who sticks his feet in the ground and dies for his name. The Proctor you know however may just be different from the real John Proctor. The 3 differences of proctor in life and proctor in the play are his descriptive appearance, his personality, and his how much the witchery affected him and his family. From small little differences to big personality changes John Proctor has it all so buckle in as I use evidence to show you the real John Proctor.
In The Crucible, John Proctor takes the role of a Colonial wheat farmer for Salem Village. He, easily comparable to every other respected American at the time, was a righteous, God-fearing man that wanted nothing, but a new start to their lives outside of the control of King William III of England and his influences. But unlike the horde, Proctor did not believe that witches had possibly squirmed their way into Salem Village. In fact, he knew that they hadn’t made their way into the Village. This was because he knew the reason that it all started, a teenage girl named, Abigail, her undying love for him and and her extreme resentment of his wife, Elizabeth Proctor.
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.
John Proctor’s character is one based on reputation, and guilt. The guilt comes from his affair with Abigail Williams. The reputation aspect comes from when he is accused by Mary Warren of trying to turn her to the Devil. I believe that John Proctor grows tired of the accusations, as to why he speaks of his false involvement with Satan in front of the town. Specifically, Deputy Danforth uses John Proctor as an example for conviction as he is certain he will be able to turn others
To convict Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft would be like giving up our independance to the British simply because they said so, it wouldn’t quite make sense would it? Convicting Mrs. Proctor, with only accusations to go by, doesn’t make sense either. A real human being cannot possibly be willing to convict her when there is glaring evidence that supports her innocence. The accusation made by Abigail Williams that it was “Elizabeth’s familiar spirit” is just that, an accusation, it has no truth behind it. Abigail claims that it was Elizabeth who pushed the needle into her stomach and Cheever thinks that the poppet found in the Proctor home is proof of that; however, it was not Mrs. Proctor who made the poppet, it was Mary Warren.
Even though John Proctor is conflicted throughout The Crucible, he finds peace by realizing the Elizabeth loves him, knowing his death will stop the court’s rampage, and forgiving himself for his sins. John Proctor often found himself in contention with the church and the town, however the town was beginning to disagree with all of the hangings. The officials of the court attempted to stop the spreading dissent among the townspeople by getting proctor to sign his freedom for a blackened name. He refuses and says to Elizabeth that he will, “Show honor now, show a stony heart and sink them with it” (Miller 133). He knows he will sink the trials with his actions because he is such a prominent figure in the society, as much as he is disliked,
The Crucible “A hero is somebody who voluntarily walks into the unknown”- Tom Hanks. Hank’s quote is being expanded by the thought that there are many opportunities for a person to possess the title of being a hero without them even knowing it. There are beliefs that John Proctor was indeed a hero in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. The story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692. In the community of Salem a witch hunt came about.
In The Crucible, the protagonist John Proctor was. In the town of Salem, in 1692, a group of young ladies by the names of Betty Williams, Abigail Williams and Tituba were found dancing in the forest naked by Reverend Parris, Abigail’s’ uncle. Reverend Parris assumed that they were participating in witchcraft. This idea of witchcraft spread through the city of Salem and the citizens began accusing each other of being witches. This started a series of court cases known as the Salem Witch Trials.
Guilt is emotional torture that transforms one's psychological operation. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, before the Salem witch trials emerge, John Proctor cheats on his wife Elizabeth Proctor, with young Abigail. Causing him to live with an eternal shame that generates dispute. Proctor’s endeavour is to elude from his wrongdoing, but he cannot because of the disgrace he feels himself to be when around Elizabeth. Miller shows that John Proctor's emotional and behavioral conflict rises from his guilt.
In The Crucibles written by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is a tragic hero. He’s farmer that is honest and a respectful. Proctor does something that is a sin within the puritan town. He commits adultery with his 17 year old maid named Abigail Williams. Ever since Proctor’s wife kicked Abigail out things have got worse.
In Arthur Miller’s book The Crucible, it shows John Proctor as both a romantic hero and a side of an antihero where he’s a hero in some people’s mind and he shows some insecurities because of Abigail’s affair. And most of people don’t see it until the confession. For Proctor he’s always had gone head to head with the Putnams over the land disputes, even though most people (including Mr. and Mrs. Corey) support the Proctor’s. For Proctor as a hero, he does show some bravery in the way that some people would see. For example he shows a few thing to do and even defiant to protect his own name.
“I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 1357). This quote is said by John Proctor, a character in “The Crucible,” who is pleading to keep his name reputable when accused of witchcraft. Arthur Miller writes “The Crucible” to portray the Salem witch trials of 1692. The people of Salem have grievances in which they need a scapegoat.
Throughout the play, Elizabeth shows her love for John, in variety of ways. She tells John “I do not judge you. The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you. I never thought you but a good man, John- with a smile- only somewhat bewildered” (1295). Elizabeth lying in court is her belief to protect John as well as her pleading with him.
The first impressive characteristic of John Proctor is his bravery. Speaking out against the “afflicted” girls in the way he did could cause serious question of him as a person. From the court’s standpoint John could be seen as directly opposing the court, which would have him jailed, or could even have him be accused of witchcraft. Also, he would have had to have known that Abigail Williams would have immediately accused him of being a witch once he spoke out against them. However, that did not stop him from delivering the truth to the court.
When people think of the play, “The Crucible”, they usually picture the witch trials and women being hanged, but Arthur Miller depicts the witch trials in a completely new light. He shows through a story that the witch trials were much more than just people calling others witches. There was deceit, pain, greed, and more. Through the play, we follow the character, Abigail, observe her actions and their consequences. We witness the lives of people she impacts, what happens to them, and how many times she lies to get her way.
