John Proctor In The Crucible

When a man is confronted by evil, fear, and injustice he will show the hero that he really is or runaway like a faceless coward. Throughout the story there are many ways to characterize John proctor. The three biggest are his selfishness; that was discovered in the beginning of the story, his internal conflicts; which lasted through the middle of the story all the way to nearly the end of the story, and his selflessness; which emerged in the end of the story. When one puts his personal desires ahead of his family, he destroys everything he has. Although John Proctor is an honorable man, he has a fatal flaw: his selfishness. John Proctor had no thought regarding his own family. There are many people in the world who wish they had families, or once had families, others have families and that is all that they
John’s conflicts have left him weaker than that he was before, and that weakness makes him depend on Mary Warren to reveal the truth about the witch trials in his place. Mary Warren would then accuse John Proctor of witchcraft. John is thrown into a dungeon and he is in a dilemma whether he should hang like a “saint”, or live with the guilt. In a conversation between Elizabeth and John Proctor, his inner struggle is shown, after Elizabeth says that she cannot judge him, “Then who will judge me? God in Heaven, what is John Proctor? I think it is honest, I think so; I am no saint. Let Rebecca go like a saint for me it is fraud!”(Proctor, Miller, IIII, 1100) Elizabeth then replies that she is not his judge, and to do as he will, to which John states, “Would you give them such a lie? Say it. Would you ever give them this? You would not if tongs of fire were singeing you you would not! It is evil. Good, then-it is evil, and I do it.”(Proctor, Miller, IIII, 1100) When John Proctor’s conflicts have been chosen he turns into a selfless