Characteristics Of John Proctor In The Crucible '

John Proctors Fatal Flaws The play The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a fictional interpretation of the 1692 Salem witch trials. John Proctor is one of the plays most dynamic and tragic characters. John commits the sin of adultery and this causes the other main character, Abigail Williams, to star rumors of witchcraft within the town. During the play John tries to correct his mistake; however, the play still ends in tragedy. John Proctors pride, integrity, and hotheadedness lead him to his unavoidable but necessary demise.

In every story there is a hero. Every story has a villain. Every story has good and evil. All good has its flaws. In order for the good to out way the evil the good has to sacrifice something. John Proctor was this hero. Procter had his flaws, but so does everyone else in the book. No matter what's his flaws are,Procter wanted to do good. He say good in people, but also saw bad in people. In Reverend Paris he saw a man who was not ordained by God. In the end he wanted to do good.

“Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again,” happens to be a quote from John Proctor whilst he was speaking to Abigail Williams in Act One of The Crucible. John Proctor happens to be a hard-working farmer from Salem with strong Puritan beliefs. Although John is a religious Puritan man he has some downfalls within the play The Crucible. His first downfall would be him committing adultery with a seventeen year old named Abigail Williams, who was his servant at the time. After committing said adultery with the teenage girl, he keeps it a secret from his wife until she fires Abigail and kicks her out of their house. After that his wife is accused of being a witch by Abigail because of him not wanting to be with Abigail anymore. He finally tells the truth about the affair while in court and is accused of being a witch after screaming “God is dead,” he then was hung three months later. So, if there is one character I can most closely relate myself to it would be John Proctor. Three character traits that I share with John Proctor is that we are both honest, hard-working, and caring.

“Whatever you do is a good man does it.”(pg 109) This is when Elizabeth Proctor was telling John Proctor about himself. She points out the good that is within him that he himself does not see. John proctor is one of the only non-hypocritical men of salem.

The importance of reputation in Salem is illustrated through John Proctor’s personal struggle. Proctor is conflicted with the two options he encounters- telling the truth, or confessing to a crime he did not commit. This opposing conflict is displayed through ethos within the play The Crucible. Arthur Miller establishes this fundamental concept of reputation by applying anaphora as well as characterization to his writing.

Plays have been used as a method of storytelling and form of entertainment for hundreds of years. A tragedy is one type of play where the audience pities the characters and fear the same consequences that the characters face. In addition, tragedies often include a tragic hero who has a tragic flaw causing his or her downfall. One example of a play that is a tragedy and includes a tragic hero is the The Crucible. John Proctor in The Crucible is a true tragic hero because he possess the four characteristics of goodness, superiority, tragic flaw, and realization of his downfall.

In The Crucible, Arthur Miller made Proctor the protagonist to exemplify himself. John Proctor was accused of witchcraft in The Crucible. John Proctor was a man that did not believe in witchcraft. Arthur Miller was the same he did not care about the communism. Miller wrote The Crucible to express his feelings over what was going on in his life about being accused of being a communism.

"I would say that John Proctor is both flawed and honorable. Proctor had an affair with Abigail when she was a servant in his house. His wife has been unable to forgive him for this, and their marriage is unhappy until his wife, Elizabeth, is accused of being a witch by Abigail. Abigail even tells Proctor what really happened on the night the girls were discovered in the woods, but Proctor doesn't share this news with anyone until it's too late. Once Proctor is arrested for witchcraft, he's willing to admit to the charge, eveon though it's false, in order to save his life. These are all examples of Proctor's flawed character.

In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, despite the fact that John Proctor has various respectable assets, he is considered a tragic hero and destined to tragedy as a result of his own imperfections. The way that John puts his companions above everything else proves his noble characteristic, his aspiration to correct his previous errors, and his need of justice. However, his imperfections are his temper, him hardly ever going to church, and his affair with Abigail Williams. Although he is a virtuous man, his flaws lead to his ruin.

The consequences of shirking accountability for ones actions are depicted through the tribulations John Proctor faced, in Arthur Miller's, The Crucible. Although John reluctantly became involved in the Salem witch trials, his initial silence proved to be the downfall of not only himself, but of his fellow townspeople as well. John Proctor remained silent for one reason, and that was to protect himself. As a result of his self-serving desires to avoid the consequences of his actions, innocent citizens were put to death.

Several characters throughout the play, The Crucible, remain the same. However, some did change. One in particular was John Proctor. This character changes a lot from the beginning, even to the end. Some feel that he is the most important element of the play, going from a hot tempered guy who committed adultery, to a man who wants forgiveness from his wife, admitting he did her wrong.

"How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave my name!" (Proctor) John Proctor a farmer, and the husband of Elizabeth. He had an affair with Abigail Williams while she worked as a servant in his house. John is a powerful man in both build and character. " John Proctor is a tormented individual. He believes his affair with Abigail irreparably damaged him in the eyes of god, his wife Elizabeth, and himself. True, Proctor did succumb to sin and commit adultery; however he lacks the capacity to forgive himself." (www.cliffsnotes.com) John Proctor goes from being loved and well respected to a sinner and later on becoming a tragic hero which was surrounded by strong feelings and beliefs.

People’s true character is revealed through their actions. Their morals and ethics can be told from how they choose to act in a situation. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible; the character of John Proctor is an honorable man despite having committed wrongful acts. He was able to redeem himself through acts that is considered courageous, such as when he refuses to contribute to the lie of witchcraft in Salem, when he fights for the people who were convicted of witchcraft and when he regrets being a dishonest man.

In The Crucible the characters all show different kind of growth throughout the story. The story is based of a town called Salem and when the Devil hit Salem all the people started to turn on each other. What started of as a little joke between girls turned into a whole game for them to play. The girls accused anyone they saw or anyone that did them wrong and each and every time those same people were hanged. Although, this play is mostly about the witchcraft the people also changed as time went by and they started to understand what was happening and why it was wrong.

Proctor: “You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore!”(120). This situation took place in the court. John Proctor says this to Danforth and others in the courthouse. When Mary Warren tried to confess, she was not able to and was soon accused of using witchcraft against the young girls in the courthouse. “Mary Warren, utterly confounded, and becoming overwhelmed by Abigails- and the girls-utter conviction, starts to whimper, hands half raised, powerless, and all the girls begin whimpering exactly as she does”. Mary soon caves in and sides with Abigail and accuses Proctor with association of the devil. Judge Danforth believes in the girls and sends Proctor to jail. Proctor then says “You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore!”.