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The Transformation Of John Proctor In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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Conformity is the thief of individuality and human curiosity. It blinds us from seeing the truth right before our own eyes, ruins our judgment and in the end makes us unrecognizable. What saves us is redemption; being honest, true to ourselves, and realizing our wrong doings. This idea is explored in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, where he tells the story of a superstitious, puritan town in Salem, Massachusetts, where the residents get entangled in a witch hunt which sets off false accusations, hysteria and ultimately death. Through the use of character actions, dialogue, and direct characterization, Arthur Miller uses the transformation of John Proctor to demonstrate that preserving one’s integrity and beliefs is more important than …show more content…

John Proctor's character actions demonstrate the start of his descent into his transformation. In act one, John Proctor visits Reverend Parris's house where commotion is in play, Abigail attempts to converse with him but he sets “her firmly out of his path”, this is because Abigail, the niece of Reverend Parris, was John Proctor’s mistress seven months ago. The reader knows that Proctor and his wife Elizabeth have been going through problems in their marriage due to Proctor’s infidelity. This adulterous sin of Proctors is reason enough for him to change his ways and start on his path of honesty to not only find forgiveness within his relationship, but also find forgiveness within himself. He no longer wishes to betray his wife or feel the weight of the guilt. This action illustrates his step into moral righteousness as a result of his affair, dismissing Abigail and improving his marriage. Following act …show more content…

After Elizabeth Proctor gets accused of witchcraft by Abigail and arrested due to the claims, Proctor goes to the courthouse in hopes to clear his wife's name. He uses Mary Warren, who knows of Abigail's schemes, to testify against the treacherous lies the teenagers in the village have stirred up. As the pressure gets to Mary, and she ends up no longer being able to testify in front of the court, Mary says, almost collapsing “Let me go, Mr. Proctor, I cannot, I cannot-” (Miller 109). Enraged by this whole ordeal no longer progressing forward, John Proctor decides to reveal his lecherous sin. He knew of the possibility of him having to announce his sin in order to prove Abigail's ulterior motives for accusing his wife. In abrupt agony, John Proctor shouts out loud calling Abigail a whore, she immediately denies this accusation. Although Danforth is doubtful, Proctor continues to announce in front of the entirety of the court trembling, “I have known her, sir. I have known her” (Miller 110). John Proctor uses this euphemism to embarrassingly confess to the men in the court that he has had an adulterous affair with Abigail, he is also publicly emphasizing that Abigail is not the pure, innocent and changed woman she is trying to portray, but rather an impure woman you cannot trust. The dialogue exhibits his loyalty to his wife, as he has given up his good name and reputation

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John Proctor is another character who risks the people in Salem to maintain his reputation. When Abigail Williams, a seventeen-year-old, was a maid in the Proctor’s home, John had an affair with her. Upon discovering this affair, Elizabeth, the wife of John Proctor, discharged Abigail for her services, which leads to Abigail’s fury. In this case, Abigail’s desire for Proctor leads to her vengeance against Elizabeth and the killings of innocent people. Knowing this undisclosed information, Elizabeth tells John Proctor, “I think you must go to Salem, John.

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Whilst trying to prove Abigail and the other girls were pretending, John confesses, “I have known her [Abigail], sir” (3.110). The fact that he is willing to confess such a heavy sin for this purpose is a huge deal. He willingly, albeit reluctantly, soils his name and reputation to bring the truth to light. In the end, Proctor refuses to give a false confession that would condemn the others who were falsely accused. He decided what he felt was right and refused to stray from it.

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When Abigail approaches Proctor and talks to him, she tells him how they are faking witchcraft. Proctor then tries to stop the trials when he realizes that the girls have faked it. Later on, he is accused of witchcraft

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John Proctor fears his name’s identity, which is evident near the end of the play when he resists Deputy Danforth and Reverend Hale’s posting his name on the church door, accusing him of witchcraft (IV.712-717). John Proctor is Elizabeth Proctor’s husband, who involved in an affair with Abigail Williams when she was still working as the Proctor’s maid. Elizabeth fires Abigail, once she realizes her maid and her husband’s covert relationship. Elizabeth’s dismissal causes Abigail to become very angry, for women had little power at the time, let alone unmarried women like herself. By playing her Mafia-like wailing and doll piercing games and forcing the other Salem girl to participate, Abigail determines to terminate Elizabeth and keep John for herself (460-473).

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Proctor feels bad about his affair with Abigail, but Elizabeth still has a lack of trust because of it. Arthur Miller allows this quote to be very powerful, because it gives the reader insight as to how their relationship is going in regards to the affair. This is the main example of one of Proctor’s major flaws, because he feels terrible about it and eventually leads to his death. If John Proctor never mentions his affair with Abigail Williams in the courtroom, he would have never gotten to the point of hanging. John Proctor clearly trusts Elizabeth, and believes that she is a good woman.

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At the beginning of the play, Proctor is portrayed as a flawed individual who is guilty of committing adultery with his former servant, Abigail Williams. He is initially unwilling to come forward and confess and instead chooses to keep it a secret to protect his reputation. Proctor himself states that "I have known her, sir. I have known her" (Miller 648) suggesting that his adultery with Abigail is not a character defect within Proctor himself, but rather a human weakness that he ultimately takes responsibility for and tries to atone with. When Proctor does confess his adultery, it is not a realization of a personal flaw, but rather an attempt to clear his name and prove his innocence.

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John Proctor is a simple man: he is married, owns a farm, and is not rich nor overly poor. However, his major flaw lies within his hubristic mindset; he would rather endure anything than sign away his honor, name and dignity. Although Proctor is a good man, he has sinned in the past in his affair with Abigail Williams, “I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near!”(Miller 21) During any other time or place John’s sin would have no serious consequences, but the hysteria that was unfolding in Salem during the witch trials magnified the consequences of his simple sin. When Proctor told Abby that no one must find out about their secret sin and he can no longer love her, Abby becomes furious and the whole hysteria was set in motion.

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Abigail does all this for the man that she loves and had an affair with, John Proctor. If the reader begins to focus on John, his actions and what he stands for, they are easily able to recognize he portrays characteristics of the flawed nature of an individual. It is shown through the fact that he had an affair, isn’t able to forgive himself, and at the end of the book, is unable to give up something dear to him to save himself and others. When analyzing John Proctor, the first thing that stands out is that he had an affair with a 17 year-old Abigail Williams. Proctor has a wife who loves him and three children but still decides to stray from his family and fancies someone else.

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John Proctor also undergoes various inner conflicts. He admits to having an affair with Abigail though his reputation and good name is on the line, in order to save Elizabeth's life. He is unsure of whether to confess or not of being in contact with the devil and repeatedly asks Elizabeth whether to confess. Elizabeth says "It come naught that I should forgive you, if you should not forgive yourself" and puts a seed of doubt in John Proctor's mind. In the end John proctor is the total opposite of what he was described in the First Act as stubborn and selfish by telling the truth and not confessing.

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John Proctor’s development changed dramatically over time in the play. At first he didn’t have much to say about the witchcraft. Then Abigail Williams brought his wife into the situation to make her go away, only because she fell in love with him when he committed adultery with her. Abigail figured that if she involved John’s wife, Elizabeth, into the witchcraft then he would have no choice but to go back to her. John assumes the only way to save his wife would be him admitting to adultery and telling the courts that the only reason

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John Proctor’s words towards Elizabeth signal irritation and annoyance. John Proctor, the main character of The Crucible, has an affair with a much younger girl, Abigail Williams, breaking his wife, Elizabeth’s trust in him. Her suspicion of him rises when he tells her he was in a room alone with Abigail. Elizabeth’s growing mistrust begins to aggravate John, which is revealed when he says, “I’ll not have your suspicion any more” (489). Elizabeth is doubtful after learning about John’s affair with Abigail and her lack of trust in her husband begins to anger him.

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He is ashamed of the lechery he has committed with Abigail and he is scared of the word getting out. If the townspeople were to find out, it would ruin his good reputation that he hold so dear. As a result, he takes matters into his own hands and tries to stop Abigail in her tracks. He believes that if he stops Abigail’s advances then he could put the whole lechery ordeal behind him, and they could forget it ever happened. Unfortunately, Abigail is unwilling to let Proctor go and she accuses Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor, of witchcraft in an attempt to have Proctor to herself.

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Proctor’s guilt is present when he, attempts to pay for his sins by giving his wife materialistic objects, hesitates to obey his wife's suggestion to accuse Abigail of false bewitchment, and breaks out in anger for not wanting to be judged any longer. The romantic relationship between the Proctor’s is undoubtedly extinguished, but even casual engagement cannot exist without tension since everything John Proctor says to Elizabeth is a symbol of repentance. He offers Elizabeth the possession of a cow and expresses “with a grin” that all he

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