How Is John Proctor Successful In The Crucible

Arthur Miller 's The Crucible: Gaining Integrity through Failure

Integrity is achieved through the gaining of wisdom; the gaining of wisdom is a direct result of failure. Arthur Miller wrote the moralizing drama, The Crucible, in this play the main character John Proctor was wrongly accused of witchcraft and served the death penalty along with two others. The story of John Proctor was indirectly summarized by the American author William Saroyan when he said, "Good people...are good because they 've come to wisdom through failure," meaning that a person willing to sacrifice for his beliefs is good because although he has failed, by not according to his moral codes he has gained integrity and the ability to refuse to live a life of hypocrisy; further, John Proctor is good because he died refusing to lie in order to live. Proctor failed because his commitments wavered depending upon his
The judges and Hale almost convinced him to do so, but the last stumbling block is his signature on the confession, which he could not bring himself to give. In part, this unwillingness reflects his desire to honor his fellow prisoners; he would not be able to live with himself knowing that other innocent, pious people died while he faltered at death 's door and fled. Also he would not sign the false confession because of his children; he did not want them to live knowing that their father was a too timid to stand up for his principles, "I have three children- how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?" (150). Proctor also hesitated to sign his false confession for fear of losing his tarnished, but all important name, "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies...How may I live without my name? (150). He knew that he could only have one name, and if he sign the false confession people would always look down on him as someone who was too cowardly to bolster his