Preview

Pride In The Crucible

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
431 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Pride In The Crucible
Imagine, having the choice of living or dying. Of course the the obvious choice is the live, but say that the cost of living is losing all pride. In the Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor chooses death of over living without pride. Some people say that living without pride is better than dying with pride. The truth is that John Proctor did the right thing dying with pride because he died by staying true to his morals. The main point that most readers would make is that lying is alright if the result is life. In The Crucible, John Proctor did not lie. Proctor had the choice to say that he had used witchcraft, which would result in life, or be hung because he did not confess to using witchcraft. Hale was very disappointed that Proctor ripped the …show more content…
People will say that god gives many gifts, but the best gift god can provide is life. These readers that support this idea would say that John Proctor did not accept god's most precious gift.As Hale says, “Life is God’s most precious gift”(4,354), he is wants Danforth to let John Proctor live because Proctor was wrongly convictted. But John Proctor decided that life was not worth losing all his honor buying lying about using witchcraft. John Proctor lost his life because he stayed true to his morals by not lying about using witchcraft. John would not let anybody take his pride. A man is not a man if he goes everyday regretting that he had lied. John Proctor was the type of man who would wake up every morning regretting that he had lied just so he could live. Proctor’s wife Elizabeth knows her husband better than anyone in the town of Salem. As Hale is mad that Proctor ripped the paper, Elizabeth explains to Hale that, “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him” (4,784). She tells Hale that no one can take John’s pride from him. All in all, John proctor did what he felt was right by ripping the confession paper and not lying to save his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    When Proctor was giving his confession, Cheever was recording it to post on the church door. The court wanted to show the public that even someone as good as Proctor cannot escape the clutches of the devil. By doing so, the court would be able to rid all the doubts the community had on their work. Proctor knew this and, "[in a] wild terror rising in him," (Stage directions page 1231), he ripped the confession paper. This showed the court that he will not give them what they want. By doing this Proctor also ripped up any chance of him keeping his…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When the play sets into action, John has had a past affair with his servant Abigail Williams. His wife, Elizabeth Proctor, is very forgiving of his sin, but John has his mind set that he will not confess to anyone else, in fear of ruining his good name, and reputation.The affair between John and Abigail caused the start of chaotic witchery and accusation. After the affair, Abigail became horribly jealous of Elizabeth Proctor. Proctor realizes there is only one way to stop all the witch hysteria in Salem, and that would be to confess his sin of adultery. Although he knows he should, he continues to be determined not to confess. Reverend Parris is new to town, and John insist continually that he is only speaking of hell, and hardly ever of God, as Proctor goes on to say to Parris, "Can you speak one minute without we land in Hell again? I am sick of Hell!" In the drama, Mary Warren places a needle in a poppet she gave to Elizabeth; John firmly demands that Mary Warren tell the courts that she really put the needle in the poppet that day. Proctor says to her, "You're coming to the court with me, Mary. You will tell it in the court." Furthermore, at the end of the play Proctor is persistent by saying that no matter what anyone says to convince him differently, he would rather die an honest man and save his name. John Proctor took pride in his thoughts, feelings, values, and his name. It took persistency to make his intent clear to others.…

    • 763 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Proctors attempt to maintain his good reputation caused his death in the end of The Crucible. He always tried to do the right things, and protect the innocent. He was deeply attentive on not allowing anyone to know about his affair with Abigail Williams. His wife, Elizabeth insisted on him telling the court that the girls were lying. He responds with, “I’ll think on that.” ( ). He is afraid that if he tells the court about his private conversation with Abigail, everyone will find out about the affair. He fears it because it is a great sin for lechery and adultery, and give up his good name. He then finally admits to having an affair with Abigail. Elizabeth did not know that so she lied to cover him up. He then was going to sign a paper…

    • 247 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Proctor Sacrifice

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages

    John Proctor is a genuine man. Granted, he’s made a few mistakes, but that should not falter his overall character any. Proctor recovers his sense of dignity as well as his goodness by tearing up the confession paper that would have saved his life. Knowing John’s good conscience and the events that have led up to this moment, this act of morality is truly believable. This feat is also incredibly conscientious.…

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Proctor is the tragic hero of The Crucible. Although he can be cast as the hero, John Proctor causes his tragic face by the end of the play. He had risked his life for others. Caring for others and he had risked his life for someone really important then him. Even his wife, Elizabeth Proctor.…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Proctor learned that maybe it’s okay to tell a white lie, in order to keep your life. Proctor was a tragic hero in the sense that he tried to save his wife and many others, even if that meant ruining his name in the town. He also refused to admit to being a witch in order for his kids to able to keep his land.…

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Proctor picked death in order to keep his name from being smeared after his death. While a noble thought, it was in vain that he died. His name had already been blackened by his now publicly known affair with Abigail while he was married. This means that his dying proclamation had been for naught, despite his best efforts he still failed to die with a clean name. With this in mind, Proctor should have chosen to lie and spend the rest of his natural life trying to restore his name so his dying wish would be true.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good 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

    As a character, John Proctor values his reputation and stays honest with himself through the play. He undergoes lots of internal and external struggles but yet, never changes his character. At the end he gets accused for witchcraft. In the story, if you confess to being a witch, you live and if you don’t, you die. Proctor values the Puritan faith and in the end, the “court” makes him admit to being a witch and sign saying he confessed. He doesn’t sign because he unwilling to sign his name to something he doesn’t believe in. He would rather die than to tell more lies. "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John’s pride and dishonesty is what ultimately bring about his downfall. “I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man. My honesty is broke, Elizabeth: I am no good man.” (1352). John’s decision to keep his adultery a secret in order to save his reputation ended up hanging him in the long run. He thought telling the court would put a stop to the witch trials, but it ended up making him look like a liar under oath, which was a hangable crime. These choices due to his excessive pride are what complete the tragic hero that is John Proctor.…

    • 441 Words
    • 2 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

    Even though he knows that Elizabeth is saved because of her pregnancy, he still continues to fight for the other women that are charged with the witchcraft issue. He supports fairness. All his actions were made to save many people from the witchhunt. He pays it with his own life, a symbol of goodness. John Proctor's decision to die is very important. He had to choose between dying and saving a whole society. John Proctor was willing to die than damn all the others. “You use not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part of salvation that you should use me! (Miller 62).” This statement shows the sense of pride that John still withholds in himself. John Proctor becomes so proud that he shocks the whole counsel by ripping the confession up in front of their faces. John Proctor then states the following: “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name! (Miller 143-144).” He always wanted to keep his name clean. He took the right decision as it also allowed him to compensate his sin with Abigail. John Proctor wanted to protect the truth, even if he has to pay with his own…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When John Proctor is faced with the decision of either falsely confessing to witchcraft and living, or staying honest and dying, he is unsure which choice is the right one. “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 133). Proctor is saying that if he confesses to witchcraft, he will forever be known as a witch. He will never be able to remove that label from his name. He may be living, but he would be living a lie. When Proctor chose death, he chose both honesty, and to protect his name. To some, protecting one’s name may seem selfish, but, sometimes, your name is all you have left.…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Corey, our village here in Salem could still be a madhouse, with the witches trial to have continued until who knows what next could have happened; perhaps all the people in the village could be at large until there comes a point where there was no one left to be accused. If not for John Proctor, every morning like these past months have been we’d be going up to the court, just to hear another absurd allegation of someone else in our village to have been possessed by Lucifer himself. John understood clearly what Abigail Williams and her friends were doing and knew he must put a stop to it. He’d committed the severe crime of adultery, but he himself questioned his own goodness. When the village was blind to see what was truly happening he made sure to put a stop to the nonsense, in exchange for taking away his good name. It was a sacrifice that he made for the good of us, the people of Salem; therefore if not for John Proctor, we all could not go back to go on with our lives in peace.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although he struggles to make a final decision whether to sign his confession or not, Proctor chooses to die while he still believes he is partly righteous. When John Proctor says, “For now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs” (133). He demonstrates his strength to stick up for himself. John Proctor recognizes that people like Danforth are manipulative because they abuse their power. He knows he has enough morality to “keep it from such dogs”. Proctor is a brave man since he knows it is better to die with honor than live as a coward. Proctor takes his demise as a real man and finally forgives himself. Just before Proctor leaves to be hung, Elizabeth shows how she admires her husband for his strength in his tragic downfall because she believes “He ha[s] his goodness now and [would never] take it from him!” (134). Of course Elizabeth wants her husband to live, but she understands Proctor. She highly respects his bravery in court glad that he has given himself a second chance. She is pleased he feels he is “good” and worthy to hang beside people like Rebecca…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays