Who Is John Proctor's Reputation In The Crucible

When one makes a decision it can often be boiled down to self preservation at the expense of others or righteousness at the expense of themselves. John Proctor, a character in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is faced with this predicament multiple times throughout the play. First, he must choose between sustaining his good reputation by concealing his affair, or letting his discretions be known in order to prevent Abigail’s rise to power. Later, he is faced with this again, but this time his wife, Elizabeth, is in immediate danger and will be directly affected by his decision. In the end, he is given the option to either falsely confess to witchcraft and be spared his life, or be hanged with a clean conscience. Proctor develops from thinking

When he finds himself alone with Abigail, he urges her to “Put [the affair] out of mind,” because he is aware that if anyone found out he would be ruined (22). Proctor is considered a powerful person in the community and he will do anything to keep it that way. Although he is not aware of the consequences of his actions, or rather lack of actions, Proctor’s silence prevents a black mark on Abigail’s reputation and allows her crying out to be taken seriously. Even later, after he sees the witch hunt get out of hand, Elizabeth presses John to tell the courts that Abigail is dishonest he responds with “I’ll think on it,” (53). The reason John does not want to come forward is because he is apprehensive of the town’s reaction and knows that by attempting to out Abigail he is putting himself at risk. Even though lying is considered a sin, John does his keep up appearances in Salem by omitting anything to do with his adultery from the court

He does not come to this decision right away and first decides to confess to witchcraft in order to live before it is revealed that his confession will be nailed to the church door. He cannot bear to see his signature tied to lies and begs Judge Danforth to “leave [him his] name,” because, like the beginning of the play, he wants to protect it, but this time from sin rather than the judgement of his community (143). By refusing to commit another sin, John is finally able to forgive himself and expresses this by declaring that “[he does] think [he sees] some shred of goodness in [himself],” (144). This decision is both an expression of self preservation, because he is saving himself in the name of his religion, and righteousness, because is doing what is best for the largest amount of