Character Analysis of John Proctor: The Crucible by Arthur Miller

In the tragic story, The crucible, John Proctor is entirely tormented by his action of being in an affair with Abigail Williams. John being an upright, blunt-spoken and honest man, he decides to end his relationship with Abigail. Apart from feeling disappointed, he felt guilty and unworthy before God and his companion, Elizabeth. Abigail started feeling jealous of John's wife and at long last set the witch in a hysterical state. Elizabeth loses trust in John and further refuses to forgive him. Proctor becomes annoyed as to why Elizabeth cannot forgive him even after apologizing and confessing. Proctor himself cannot forgive himself for his actions yet expects forgiveness from Elizabeth. Their condition probes a court trial.

For Proctor to maintain his integrity, respect and good name, the case is forwarded to Salem. For the rampage by Abigail to be stopped, he had to confess of adultery before Salem. John is a proud individual, he fears to confess the truth. He preferred to keep his reputation and good name. Therefore, he accuses Abigail of deception. His accusations are made public through testimony by Mary Warren. Unfortunately, his indictment fails and openly rejected by the court.

Upon the collapse of his previous accusations on Abigail, he burst into a state of panic and proclaims his guilt in public. He wrongfully calls Abigail a whore in a bid to save himself from blame. However, his attempt to save himself bears no fruits. Abigail was now very irritated and not even the truth could clam the situation. Proctor had made a lot of unlawful moves hence upon confession, he was arrested and convicted. He was convicted of being a witch. However, he blames the court and criticizes the jury for its role in his conviction. Despite criticizing the court, he is fully aware of his unethical actions that he engaged in before being vindicated (Bloom 24).

Proctor decides to restore his integrity by engaging in redeemable moves. He further provides a final denunciation of the trials by the witch as he gives his final deed. At some particular point, he thinks of giving a public confession so that his life can be spared. In his commitment to giving a public confession, he signs a confession written on the paper. However, fearing being judged by the public and due to his pride, he pulled out of the agreement. He refrain from giving details about him being adulterous. As the trial approaches the end, Proctor changes tact and decides to restore his integrity at the expense of his established reputation (Johnson and Johnson 35).

Proctor strives to save his name from being judged wrongfully by the public. His main motive to save is name religious and personal and not for publicity as was the case before. Proctor can be judged as being religious and straight forward by his decision not to confess false information about Abigail anymore as was before. Additionally, he avoiding giving false confession proves that he is true to his stand. He feared to confess before the court as it would work as a betrayal to other prisoners. Majority of the prisoners were brave and ready to die as a way of testifying the truth. He refuses to auction his integrity with the belief that he will find his way to heaven. According to Miller pg. 18, when Hale asked Elizabeth to convince John to confess publicly, she reluctantly responded that He has his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!

Works cited

Miller, A. The crucible: A play in four acts. 2016.

Bloom, Harold. The Crucible. Chelsea House Publishers, 1998.

Johnson, Claudia D, and Vernon E. Johnson. Understanding the Crucible: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Greenwood P, 1998.