The Crucible - Is John Proctor a Sincere Christian
John Proctor, A True Man of God?
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play based on the Salem Witch Trials. The people behind the Trials, the Puritans, were used as the characters in this work, and one of them, as well as their partly fabricated background, struck me in particular. John Proctor was an average Puritan man, decent amount of land, livestock, and Christian. John Proctors, entry into the story starts with his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, being accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris’s niece. John Proctor then dedicates his time to saving his wife. Some of Proctor’s actions, before and during the time period of the play, cause people to ask the question, “Is John Proctor a sincere Christian?” As somebody with strong views on Christianity and religion as a whole, I think there’s no way he couldn’t be. Yes, John Proctor did have his faults, and he did make mistakes, but he has a goodness in his heart that is a force to be reckoned with. It is mentioned at one point in the story that Proctor had not been in church very often. The Puritans believed in going to church whenever they were expected to, so to the people of Salem, this may have painted him as a fraud, a non-Christian troublemaker. John Proctor would read the bible to his sons, that sounds pretty Christian to me. Not to mention, he had an understandable reason to not go to church. The reverend, Mr. Parris, often delivered a sermon corrupted by the greedy thoughts that surrounded land and power.
A major mistake made by Mr. Proctor is one that makes many people question his character, is one that would follow him into the Trials. John Proctor was an adulterer. Abigail Williams and John Proctor had an affair, until he broke it off. He knew he did wrong, but he could not reverse what he’d done. He didn’t realize that he had unwittingly signed his own death certificate. Yes, John Proctor committed adultery, but when the time came, he confessed, and he repented. He
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play based on the Salem Witch Trials. The people behind the Trials, the Puritans, were used as the characters in this work, and one of them, as well as their partly fabricated background, struck me in particular. John Proctor was an average Puritan man, decent amount of land, livestock, and Christian. John Proctors, entry into the story starts with his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, being accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris’s niece. John Proctor then dedicates his time to saving his wife. Some of Proctor’s actions, before and during the time period of the play, cause people to ask the question, “Is John Proctor a sincere Christian?” As somebody with strong views on Christianity and religion as a whole, I think there’s no way he couldn’t be. Yes, John Proctor did have his faults, and he did make mistakes, but he has a goodness in his heart that is a force to be reckoned with. It is mentioned at one point in the story that Proctor had not been in church very often. The Puritans believed in going to church whenever they were expected to, so to the people of Salem, this may have painted him as a fraud, a non-Christian troublemaker. John Proctor would read the bible to his sons, that sounds pretty Christian to me. Not to mention, he had an understandable reason to not go to church. The reverend, Mr. Parris, often delivered a sermon corrupted by the greedy thoughts that surrounded land and power.
A major mistake made by Mr. Proctor is one that makes many people question his character, is one that would follow him into the Trials. John Proctor was an adulterer. Abigail Williams and John Proctor had an affair, until he broke it off. He knew he did wrong, but he could not reverse what he’d done. He didn’t realize that he had unwittingly signed his own death certificate. Yes, John Proctor committed adultery, but when the time came, he confessed, and he repented. He