A Man and Himself
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are” -John Wooden. In Arthur Miller's, The Crucible, John Proctor is faced with a lot problems where he does not know what to do. The right choice could hurt his reputation, but the other choice could hurt his close family and friends. John Proctor's motivation changes throughout the play. Between his wife, his integrity, and wanting to prove Abigail Williams guilty, he gets caught up in a lot. His actions create a situation where he has to do what he thinks is best, not going through with his confession, knowing he will be hanged.
John Proctor has more than one thing motivating him though the story. The biggest thing motivating him in the beginning of the play would be his integrity. “A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now.” pg 110. John Proctor is about to do something that could ruin the way people think about him. Knowing this, he still chooses to do it because it is the right thing. He does whatever he can to try and help the people around him and prove Abigail Williams is a
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To prove to the court that Abigail Williams is not innocent, to make sure his wife did not suffer, and to keep his integrity John Proctor fessed up about his affair. “I have rung the doom of my good name--you will believe me, Mr. Danforth! My wife is innocent, except she knew a whore when she saw one!” page 111. Proctor's decision to confess to this stirs up a lot. The court now questions Abigail and her honesty. When Abigail does not confess to it, they bring out Elizabeth Proctor. Proctor tries to do the right thing but it backfires when Elizabeth lied to protect her husband's name. This is not the only decisions that affects the outcome but it will lead to him trying more and more to ruin Abigail