John Proctor vs Arthur Dimmesdale Essay Example
Andrew Suazo
12/4/11
P.4
John Proctor
VS.
Arthur Dimmesdale
The sixth commandment states, "Thou shall not commit adultery." This is something that both John Proctor from "The Crucible" and Arthur Dimmesdale from "The Scarlet Letter" committed. John Proctor's partner in crime is Abigail Williams and Arthur Dimmesdale's is Hester Prynne. The big difference between these two men is that John accepts his sin and Arthur does not. They both share the same sin, but they lived two different but similar lives. Since they both were Puritans and people that the town looked up to.
The most glaring difference between John and Arthur is the fact that John isn't a holy man. Hell, he doesn’t even attend church on Sundays. But this doesn’t change the fact that he completely regrets his crime of adultery. I think it might affect John a lot more than Arthur because he already has a significant other. This makes the sin more personal for John in that regard.
John's reason for not being a holy man (which was a big deal for the time) can be traced to 2 things. 1: Him being a farmer makes his life revolve around the randomness of the weather and the brutality of nature. 2: The corruptness of the religious members of the town. An example is all of the witch accusations that are completely ridiculous and the priest asking the townspeople for money instead of preaching god.
John's personality is also completely different. He is entirely confident in himself (sometimes appearing arrogant) but believes he is right all of the time. This is one of the factors why the townspeople look up to him. But also one of the reasons the townspeople turned against him so fast when he admitted to adultery.
Arthur Dimmesdale is as holy as you can get. He is a famous minister that gets transferred to the town of the scarlet letter and is respected by everyone. He eventually commits adultery with Hester Prynne which tears him up inside because it goes against everything he
12/4/11
P.4
John Proctor
VS.
Arthur Dimmesdale
The sixth commandment states, "Thou shall not commit adultery." This is something that both John Proctor from "The Crucible" and Arthur Dimmesdale from "The Scarlet Letter" committed. John Proctor's partner in crime is Abigail Williams and Arthur Dimmesdale's is Hester Prynne. The big difference between these two men is that John accepts his sin and Arthur does not. They both share the same sin, but they lived two different but similar lives. Since they both were Puritans and people that the town looked up to.
The most glaring difference between John and Arthur is the fact that John isn't a holy man. Hell, he doesn’t even attend church on Sundays. But this doesn’t change the fact that he completely regrets his crime of adultery. I think it might affect John a lot more than Arthur because he already has a significant other. This makes the sin more personal for John in that regard.
John's reason for not being a holy man (which was a big deal for the time) can be traced to 2 things. 1: Him being a farmer makes his life revolve around the randomness of the weather and the brutality of nature. 2: The corruptness of the religious members of the town. An example is all of the witch accusations that are completely ridiculous and the priest asking the townspeople for money instead of preaching god.
John's personality is also completely different. He is entirely confident in himself (sometimes appearing arrogant) but believes he is right all of the time. This is one of the factors why the townspeople look up to him. But also one of the reasons the townspeople turned against him so fast when he admitted to adultery.
Arthur Dimmesdale is as holy as you can get. He is a famous minister that gets transferred to the town of the scarlet letter and is respected by everyone. He eventually commits adultery with Hester Prynne which tears him up inside because it goes against everything he