The Reputation Of John Proctor In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

People convicted of witchcraft belonged to the Puritan society which is known for its severity and its devotion to Christianity. The environment is thus propitious to all sorts of judgements. It is for example the case when John Proctor is asked why he does not attend Church every Sunday: "In the book of records that Mr Parris keeps, I note that you are rarely in the church on Sabbath Day" (Miller 53). Hale here makes an assumption that Proctor is not a good Christian since he is rarely at the church. He does not ask whether John is a good father or if he helps his neighbours, all he cares about is whether he is physically present at the office every week. This emphasizes the importance of the social environment on one's reputation. Nowadays,

From the judges' point of view, you are either with God or your with the Devil. People convicted of witchcraft usually confess under torture or because they just don't want to die. The latter case is usually a lie that permits to escape death but involves someone else's name. This is for example the case of Tituba who says she saw other women with the Devil: "Aye, sir, a good Christian" (37) and "I don't know, sir, but the Devil got him numerous witches" (39). This example shows all the hypocrisy of people who call themselves good and permit judging others, but when the situation gets warm, they are capable of anything that would save them, including buying their freedom with someone else's life. It is the same for Goody Putnam whose role in the play is to make a relation to witchcraft to everything she sees. She wants to convict someone for her babies' death and the arrival of Reverend Hale is one way to prove that its not her fault if she cant give birth to a baby. She thus tries to get involved and does not hesitate to give evidence of the guilt of whoever is named by Abigail and the girls: "I knew it! Goody Osburn were midwife to me three times. I begged you, Thomas, did I not? I begged him not to call Osburn because I feared her. My babies always shrivelled in her hands!"

Those who like Goody Putnam are not suspected of being evil because they are at the Church every Sunday are, at least in this play, the ones whose soul is the most blackened. This situation can be compared to Miller's period of time, when people like Senator McCarthy who was far from being exemplar still convicted artists for "un-American activities". The author fustigates this attitude by giving the reader the impression that Goody Putnam for example or Judge Danforth are simple minded people. Those they convict, like John Proctor or Rebecca Nurse are not perfect but are at least honest with themselves until proven otherwise. Throughout the play, we never see either of them spitting on someone else or trying to bring trouble to anyone. This kind of character might represent Arthur Miller's ideal; someone that does not permit himself to judge others since no one is perfect. John and Rebecca's death at the end of the play might symbolise the author's wish to represent them as martyrs who died for the ideas and moral values they defended and thus bring the sympathy of the reader. The Crucible is a way for the playwright to bring the reader's attention on how judgements may be dangerous and end up like a snowball effect. The judges Danforth and Hathorne already had their idea on John Proctor when he came to try to save his wife, which means nothing could have twisted his fate. He was condemned to death