Preview

John Proctor An Honorable Man

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
696 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
John Proctor An Honorable Man
In school, somebody may fail a test without cheating, rather than cheating to do well. Immediately after the test, the person may not feel good about failing the test. But, after a while, they will realize that they did the right thing. They will feel better about themselves, and their honor. John Proctor in The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, chose to be an honorable man and fail in terms of losing his life rather than lie and watch his friends and family be killed. John Proctor is an honorable man because he is brave, stands up for his friends, and is a loyal man. Throughout the play Arthur Miller portrays John Proctor as a brave man. In Act IV, John Proctor says that he has nothing to do with witchcraft. Governor Danforth is saying that if Proctor continues to lie, he will be hanged. John Proctor says, This shows that John Proctor is a very brave man because he is willing to tell the truth and die rather than lie and wrongly stay alive. If John Proctor was not a brave man, he would have lied to stay alive to watch all his friends die. This shows that John Proctor is brave because he …show more content…
In Act IV John Proctor is in court on the charges of being a witch. This shows that John Proctor will stand up for his friends and tell the truth about not being associated with the Devil, rather than lie and have his friends die. If John Proctor was not a man who stood up to his friends than he would lied and have all his friends die; instead he told the truth and died, while maintaining honor with his friends.This shows that John Proctor stands up for his friends because he will show people in the court that people being accused of witchcraft are being wrongfully accused; giving them a chance at surviving and not being hanged. If John Proctor wasn’t a good friend then he wouldn’t even try to help the women. In The Crucible John Proctor is portrayed as a man who stands up for his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    When Proctor was prosecuted for being one with the devil, he was asked a series of questions. Danforth demanded Proctor to confess that is he saw certain people, innocent people, with the devil. Proctor answered with, "No, I did not," (Page 1230), every single time. As other people who were prosecuted did accuse these people, such as Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey. He did not put anyone else's life in danger as he was putting his own life in danger by not accusing them. Having the guts to stand up to others is something that all heroes have mastered in.…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, John Proctor tearing up his confession is believable. Proctor is a flawed character, but he is a good man. Proctor tries to do what he believes is right. Proctor can’t stand the idea that innocent people are being condemned. He can’t accept that the girls are falsely accusing people of witchcraft, and the court is believing them.…

    • 308 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, The Crucible, John Proctor can be considered the tragic hero. He had all the components of a tragic hero, he had a tragic flaw which led to his tragic end. A tragic hero’s downfall is usually brought upon by his or herself by an error in judgment or a tragic flaw. A tragic hero is usually overcome by evil, but in the course of the struggle, the hero gains self-knowledge and wisdom. John Proctor is the perfect tragic hero because of his error in judgment, the fact that he is overcome by evil, and his courageous downfall.…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Passion and responsibility are key factors that compose John Proctor’s mannerism. His actions throughout the play give a clear image of his goodness and desire to be recognized as a good man, despite his wrong doings. As a major character in the play, John adventures through difficult times affecting his future actions. Not only does he have to deal with his affair with Abigail, but he must also face his confession in court and risk ruining his name. His passion for following the Puritan beliefs and staying true to who he is allows him to take responsibility for his mistakes and confesses to the crime although he is unable to forgive himself.…

    • 112 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Proctor had risked his life for the people who were in penitentiary. He could have said he seen the other penitentiary who was in jail. That has seen them with the Devil like what Betty, Abigail and Tituba had done. But so his wife and the others did not get in trouble. He just said it was him and that the others we not there and that Danforth had jailed the wrong people.…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since Proctor lied about practicing witchcraft he had the option to confess to avoid his own death. After signing the confession he grabbed the note and tore it because it would not be honorable to his name. Proctor says, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies!” (Miller 211). He took so much honor in his name that he would rather have died than lie on his name. There are still many people that believe he was not honorable.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Despite Proctor’s death being inevitable, he realizes that he could forgive himself and regain his good name. Arthur Miller used Proctor to ascend to an extraordinary human to fight in what he believes was right, even if it costs him his life. Proctor’s life was not in vain, because he validated that, he would not sell out to an unjust court. With all the flaws John Proctor presents he died on a basis of integrity and truthfulness rather than giving into unjust conformity.…

    • 83 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the Crucible, John Proctor showed tremendous growth in his character. He first started out as a cheating man with little respect towards him. He then decides to change his ways and tell Abigail Williams, the girl he was cheating with, that their secret relationship is over. “But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again.” (Proctor 24) Another growth of his is when he would rather die than let his children seem him as a liar. (I have three children- how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?” (Proctor 150). He would rather turn himself in then let others get accused. John Proctor shows that he not such a bad guy after all.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First off, John Proctor is an honorable and noble character. He always finds the truth. For instance, when he confronts Mary Warren about the poppet and she says that it was just for sport, then John says “You’re coming to the court with me, Mary. You will tell it in the court.” (80) This shows how nothing will stop him from getting the truth, and helping others with it. He will also do anything to save somebody else. In Act III, Proctor made a “petition” that 91 respectable people signed and was “... a sort of testament. The people signing it declare their good opinion of Rebecca, and my wife, and Martha Corey.” (93) Also in Act III John says “She (Abigail) thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore's vengeance, and you must see it…” (110) In this quote he is admitting to having an affair with Abigail, he admits to having the affair to explain why Abigail would want Elizabeth dead. As you can see, John Proctor is a very noble and honorable character because he will do anything to help somebody else, even if it means he has to sacrifice.…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the play, The Crucible, John Proctor is a remorseful, candid, and an industrious man. The author, Arthur Miller, created John Proctor so the readers would like him. Proctor has flaws that he tries to fix, but still has a hard time with his wife, Elizabeth. Arthur Miller makes sure the reader still can see John Proctor as a likeable man after his…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Proctor appears to be an authentic, honorable, and candid man. In act one, Proctor exuberates love for authority and exercises his power to the best of his ability. Readers see through Proctor’s witty persona and analyze his fatal sin that fills him with guilt, his affair with Abigail Williams. In the midst of the play, John Proctor undergoes a plethora of self-torment and guilt. Meanwhile, the witch trials continue to be investigated. Only John can free innocent men and women tried for practicing witchcraft, but in the process will ruin his reputation. Proctor later confesses to his act of lechery and rests in the gallows with his neighbors. By doing so, John is perceived as a…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the end of the play he shows that he pays for the mistakes that he made, with his own life. We feel the empathy and the tragedy of the situation, because it shows that even a good person like John Proctor, can have a downfall as big as this. He shows that he is a tragic hero because his death, starts to bring things back to order in Salem, and people start to realise how unbelievable it is that these most respected people from the town, have been accused of witchcraft and hung. Proctor shows his heroism when he takes responsibility for his mistakes, and stands up against the court, risking his name, and essentially his own life to protect the innocent people who were wrongly…

    • 963 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Proctor's Death

    • 1298 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In the play, John Proctor is an ordinary farmer, who has proven himself a hardworking man, with a good name around the village of Salem. John is the type of man who often says what he believes and he does what his heart tells him to. In his past he has done a lot of good and bad deeds, but he is a human and humans do make mistakes for example, he had committed the crime of lechery with Abigail Williams. Abigail used to work at his house as a servant for him and his wife Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail is a two-faced 18 year old who causes a lot of mischief and she is in love with John and will do anything to separate him and his wife, just to take her place. John clearly regrets the mistake he had made in his life, and does his best to pick himself up and attempts to change things in his life. He is a smart man who is somewhat foolish, because from what I have observed, John puts more importance on the present than he does on the future. He is a kind man who is loyal to his wife and friends; he even blackens his own name for the sake of their lives. He is devoted to stop the hangings, and save the people who are accused.…

    • 1298 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Proctor is arrested on charges of witchcraft along with his wife, Elizabeth. The people that are arrested for witchcraft live if they confess, but hang if they deny the charges, even if the charges are not truthful. This plays an important part in the testing of John’s integrity later in the play. In the beginning, we find out that Proctor had an affair with the niece of the town reverend, Abigail Williams. This displays a lack of integrity for John, but nobody knows about it until later. John shows his integrity when he confesses to this affair later in the play. At the beginnig of the play, the Proctor’s want no part in the witch trials. They get dragged into the proceedings when Abigail accuses Elizabeth of hurting her with a voodoo doll. John has integegrity when he tries to save his wife from being hanged. He gets depositions from others in the town that show how good his wife was. He has Mary Warren, who was working in the Proctor house, confess that she was the one who made the doll and stuck the needle in it. This does not work though, and Mary turns on Proctor and gets him arrested. When Proctor is in jail, he shows his integrity once again. He knows that he has the…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Proctor Failure

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Is a man who cheats on his wife and fails to bring justice to the town worthy of the title of a tragic “hero”. John Proctor is a character in Arthur Miller’s play the Crucible. His goal as stated in the play is to stop Abigail who is accusing his wife of witchcraft. John Proctor however fails to do that. John Proctor is not a tragic hero in any sense of the word. Although Miller argues John Proctor is a tragic hero, Proctor’s actions cause him to be defined as a failure.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays