Examples Of Sacrifice In The Crucible

John Proctor’s decision to die for his name was the wrong one because despite his attempt to die an honest man, his name would remain tainted by his sinful affair regardless of whether he decided to live or die. The reality of Proctor’s decision is that he abandoned his wife, their three sons, and their unborn child for an ultimately futile act of self-sacrifice made for the approval of the townspeople. Throughout the course of the book, Proctor’s guilt from his affair with Abigail continuously guides his decisions and the moment it came time to decide whether to confess and live or maintain his innocence and hang was no different. Proctor decided that he would rather die than taint his name, but this decision stems from the guilt which constantly

He tries to confess to the court about his adultery with Abigail by stating, “ I have known her, sir. I have known her” (John Proctor 193). Proctor does not want to formally state that he has committed adultery because it could hurt his name greatly, his family, and cause him to be put to death. Hale is trying to get Proctor to confess about his lie than die for pride. God cannot forgive a man who dies for pride, yet can forgive a liar. Thus, Proctor should confess to witchcraft. However; Proctor cannot do this because he cannot blacken his name. He would end up revealing his sin and it would be the end of his name. At the very end of the play, Proctor is sent to death, and Hale implores to Elizabeth, “Woman, plead with him! Woman! Its is pride, it is vanity. Be his helper! -what profit him to bleed” (Hale 212)? Hale yells this at Elizabeth, because he wants her to go and convince John to plead guilty, but prideful Proctor chose to die instead with his honor intact. He chose to die as repentance for his original sin of adultery. This emphasizes proctor has overwhelming pride, and not even with the fear of death will he dare to try and let go of

John Proctor has to choose between death or disgrace to his family name. “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave my name!’’ (Miller 211) In the end John Proctor chooses to die rather than lie, which means he feels that he is good again. Concluding

John Proctor lived and died as an honorable man in Salem. He was not a perfect man and admittedly some of his decisions were not right. However he won the battle against his conscience and righted the wrong to the best of his ability, motivated by protecting his family’s name from shame. He paid for these convictions with his life. Throughout the play The Crucible, John is motivated to tell the truth even though it ruins reputation, and contributes to the theme of someones reputation. Although he lived and died in the seventeenth century his example is timeless as we are faced with situations similar to

Even though Reverend Parris believes all people who do not attend church regularly, like John Proctor are unchristian, he himself would be considered the unchristian considering his sermons are only about hell and damnation. John Proctor himself speaks about this issue, “I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation” (Miller, Crucible 42). It is made clear that John Proctor has an underlying hatred for Reverend Parris considering he is only into the money, that he only instills fear in the members of the church, and believes that he is above everyone else considering he is a Harvard graduate. John Proctor isn’t all that innocent himself. Even though he has shown to have high moral values,

p;    When Proctor was first faced with the decision of living with a lie or dying with the truth, he chose life.   He decided that a lie was a minute sin in comparison to voluntarily giving up the life with which God blessed him.   After signing his confession, he was notified that it would be hung above the church entrance for all to see.  Besides believing that publicity was unnecessary to a valid confession, Proctor did not want to blacken his name.   Because of committing adultery, he knew what it was like to live with a bad reputation and did not want his sons to have to live with a name marked by witchcraft.  Proctor crumbled up the paper in front of his accusers and chose death rather than advertise a lie. 

things, sometimes its relationships or beliefs. Regardless of how life is, people will have to make

If he chooses falsely and publicly confesses to witchcraft he will damage his name even more so, even though he will be able to live and see his children. If he chooses not to confess, placing his moral integrity above the value of his own life, he will be put to death. This brings upon some conflict at the end of the story. “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!”(142) Although it may come off as selfish, Proctor speaks the truth when he says this. This part of the story brings out Proctor’s true colors. He cannot live on knowing that he has confessed to a crime he did not commit,and letting the townspeople believe he was involved with witchcraft. Danforth does not understand why he won’t allow his name simply to be tarnished in order to live, Proctor retaliates by saying, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (143) John Proctor’s main fatal flaw was his excessive pride which ultimately sealed his fate. Although in the end it made him a better Christian, by staying true to his word and dying with his soul and name in

The second moral dilemma John Proctor faces is to tell the truth and die as an honest man. He has the choice to either lie in order to live or die with his friends in an honourable way. Proctor realizes that if he choses to tell the truth he will no longer be the sinful man he thought he is, but would keep his name in good standing and be a good role model for his sons. “‘I have three children---how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?’” (IV.I). If John chooses to live he will be looked upon by his friends and family as a liar and an unmoral man. He will not be able to function in the Puritan society, so he comes to the conclusion to tell the truth and be put to death. He believes God will save him because he is doing the right thing by choosing to die and he will be remembered for his dignity. His wife Elizabeth watches the hanging and says, “‘He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!’” (IV.I). As Proctor is about to be hanged, sunlight shines throughout the town representing John made the right decision and he will be going to God. After all, John Proctor does give up his life, but he knows he saves his sons from walking around with a tainted name and keeps the names of his friends clean, not betraying them.

Particular situations that assess an individual’s identity often mirrors the beliefs and morals they prominently value. Due to the overwhelming significance that sacrifice plays in life, writers and artists have often displayed this theme through various forms of artwork, such as novels, plays, and paintings. Adding it as a theme within pieces of literature and art encourages individuals to reflect on their own sacrifices and how it affects their values. As a result, writers such as Arthur Miller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and William Shakespeare utilized the concept of sacrifice to emphasize the important values of reputation, unconditional love, and loyalty.

In the play, Arthur Miller wrote called, The Crucible John Proctor says "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 143). He had a very strong belief that if his name was blackened there is no reason to live. John Proctor also chose to die because he could not double cross his friends, the fact that he has three children, John could not raise his children to walk like men in the world if he himself was not a true man. Therefore, for the sake of his name, reputation, and his kids John's decision to die was a heroic one.

Another inner quality that defines John Proctor is the value he holds to his good name. Proctor is a firm believer in the fact that one’s name is the only thing that remains after death, and what is done with it while living can affect one’s posterity for generations. This is the driving force behind his actions in the final act of the play. At first, he felt no shame in lying to the court about his accusation of witchcraft because he felt there was no more damage he could do to his reputation and that one more sin would not make any difference. His attitude changed when he realized his confession would mean blackening the name of those who already had died, and his sons would have to live with that mark on their names. He knew he could not teach his sons “. . . to walk like

In act four John Proctor gave up his life so that his wife and children could live their lives without being looked down upon by the society they live in. At the end of act four Proctor had two choices: live and lose his good name, or die and defend his good name. John proctor chooses to be hanged specifically to protect his children, his intentions are displayed when he says, “ I’d have you see some honesty in it. Let them that never lied die now to keep their souls. It is pretense for me, a vanity that will not blind God nor keep my children out of the wind…”( Miller, The Crucible, pg. 143). At that moment John Proctor realized that he would be doing himself no good, because either way he will not be forgiven by God and by losing his good name it puts his children in harm's way. But, Proctor choose the hard way like any true hero would; he chooses to die because he only

The Salem witch trials was a story of envy, lies, and the danger of the people. Others wouldn’t defend those accused, and if they did, they themselves were eventually charged as witches. In many ways, defending others was condemning yourself. Such was the case for John Proctor in “The Crucible”. John Proctor was someone who had made mistakes, but through his own crucible made peace with himself and defended the honor of himself and the others that would not admit to witchcraft.

Proctor says to her, "You're coming to the court with me, Mary. You will tell it in the court." (Miller 80). This is to prove that he is not in volved in witchcraft. He does not want his name to even be associated with the thought. He there fore makes Mary testify to the court about her doll and therefore clears the accusation that he was doing what we consider voo-doo. Furthermore, at the end of the play Proctor is persistent by saying that no matter what anyone says to convince him differently, he would rather die an honest man and save his name. John Proctor took pride in his name. It took persistency to make his intent clear to others.He eventually dies for his cause. Therefore making him a martyr.