The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations. The confession of Proctor would convince others in the town to confess to their incriminations and not have to …show more content…
Reverend Parris, Deputy Governor Danforth, and Reverend Hale’s desire for Proctor’s confession demonstrates their need to keep up their reputations and the well-being of the citizens of Salem. A motive for Proctor’s confession is for Reverend Parris and Danforth’s reputations to be upheld and avoid a rebellion of the townspeople against the court and leaders. Parris fears that if Proctor is to be hanged, then the town will attempt to overthrow the court for it’s dishonesty and rebel against him. Danforth’s beliefs are similar to Parris’: if Proctor does not confess, then his reputation of holding up an honest and valid court would be ruined. Parris tells Danforth that “...Andover have thrown out the court, they say, and will have no part of witchcraft. There be a faction here, feeding on that news, and I tell you true, sir, I fear there will be riot here” (Miller 1220). Parris fears that a riot could occur in Salem if Proctor and Rebecca Nurse are to be hanged. The town would turn against him and the courts, causing him to lose his minister position and have to leave town. A confession from John Proctor would cause the townspeople not to rebel because Proctor’s life would be
The Salem witch trials that took place in colonial Massachusetts led to a death toll of 20 people, 19 hanged and one pressed by stones. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft, or as some Puritans called it “the Devil’s magic.” In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, a play based on true events, talks about the Salem witch trials, and who was accused and was executed. Although 20 people from the trials were executed effectively, within reason, only two individuals from The Crucible deserve to be pardoned from the crime of witchcraft, John Proctor and Giles Corey. John Proctor, a farmer and husband of Elizabeth Proctor, became accustomed to extreme predicament.
In 1692, the year of the witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts, fright, and vengeance were among the people. The people being an unforgiving group of people during the time were more prone to causing conflict than they were resolving it. In the historical fiction “The Crucible,” by Arthur Miller, many conflicts prevail in the plot of the story. Some of the many conflicts include Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams, John Proctor and Reverend Parris, and Reverend Parris versus society. John Proctor has a burning dislike for Reverend Parris, for he won’t even let him baptize his last son.
Andy Biersack once said “Stand up for what you believe in, even if it means standing alone…”. People should always speak out if something bad is happening, no matter if they are standing against one person or a whole army. People can always be wrong and will sometimes need someone to push them into the right direction. John Proctor, a character in the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller who is a farmer and is married to a woman accused of witchcraft named Elizabeth, does not agree with the witchcraft trials going on in Salem at that time. He tries to go to court with Mary Warren, a girl who was originally part of the scheme, but now says that it is fake, to prove that the witch trials are all a hoax.
It is well known that John Proctor does not see Parris to be a godly man. He disagrees with his teachings and his candlesticks and is not shy in admitting that he possesses “no love for Mr. Parris”(90). Parris no doubt sees this and relishes in the idea that he can use witchcraft to discredit Proctor so that there will be no displeasure from anyone in the town toward him and his teachings. In the court, he does everything possible to discredit John Proctor’s argument by influencing Danforth’s view of him in a negative manner. The reverend argues that Proctor is “such a Christian that will not come to church but once in a month” (90).
We should express our guilt in order to prove innocence. In Act 3 of The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, John Proctor states "The woman has never lied Your Excellency. "(miller 103) after admitting that he has slept with Abigail Williams. He was talking about his wife Elizabeth Proctor saying she is an honest woman. Also in Act 3 Mary Warren comes out and says that she and the mean girls were acting the whole time Abigail then tries to show that Mary was a witch by stating "Mary don't tear off my face!"(miller 106) this signifies that Abigail was good at acting even in bad situations.
Reverend Parris, while referring to Rebecca Nurse and Proctor, states, “I would to God it were not so, Excellency, but these people have great weight yet in the town” (p. 1347). Parris’s quote speaks volumes because while he showed contempt for Proctor throughout the play, he recognizes the man’s power in Salem. Additionally, he
In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor was accused of witchcraft. John Proctor was a man of great integrity and knew he did nothing wrong. He was given the choice to confess and lie or be hung. Being the honest and stubborn man that he was, he decided his name was more important than his life. John struggled both internally and with others while trying to fight for what he thought was right.
The reason Proctor gives is that he wants to be remembered as a man who is honest and royal to his wife, and gets annoyed when the judge asks for a signature for confession. He insists what he has said is enough, and even so they would not let him off the hook (A. Miller). John Proctor, in fact, is strong willed enough to ignore herd mentality that pressures him to his last moments, but even his decision wavers between confess and not to confess, showing how powerful herd mentality is. That is from those who are accused, there are also the by-standers, like the judges, villagers, and etcetera. Nobody stands up for the accused directly in the entire play, even if they feel really guilty about all the people dying, they still did not step up and say something (Sundstrand).
Parris then yells “Your Excellency, this is a trick to blind the court!” (99). Reverend Parris has a deep hate for John Proctor and wants to protect his daughter Abigail so he too takes the side of the court. Danforth does not want to see the girls discredited but can not say that publicly so he must at least hear Proctor’s argument but would never let him win. This shows corruption in the highest court of the province.
By looking at The Crucible by Arthur Miller one can see that the characterization of John Proctor reveals the theme of reputation and integrity, which is important because refusing to tell lies to protect his reputation and stop delirium from spreading throughout Salem. John Proctor states that the woman of Salem who have been locked up for witchcraft:”Excellency, does it not strike upon you that so many of these women have lived so long with such upright reputation”(3.1.305-309). Proctor represents reputation because he would rather die than have his reputation downed to a victimizer. Protecting his reputation motivates John Proctor to deny that witchcraft exists in the village. All he hears is crying out of screams and wailing which is a cause of the Devil 's work: “What 's she doing?
In the mist of February 1692, the small Puritan village, Salem, was anything but upbeat with trepidation on the rise. As girls whom knew not of the consequences that laid behind their actions, they repeatedly shouted out the names of people whom displeased them. This resulted in turmoil and one of the vital characters came to light. John Proctor, a mere farmer, had built himself up to be a man of honor through his family and friends. Little did they know, Proctor had a secret life which is simply the beginning of his selfish demonstrations of his own morality.
In the book Crucible written by Arthur Miller took place in 1692. Some may believe that Reverend Hale is not to blame for all the deaths of innocent people in Salem. The only reason Reverend Hale is involved in this case, is because he is pushing his limits to get the truth. Also, to not let any guilty doers off the chain, for the reason that they will keep repeating their dirty crimes. There has been many witch trials taken place in salem, of which many people have been accused and persecuted.
In the beginning of the play John struggles to find himself, he doesn’t get involved with the trials until his wife’s name is spoken about within the court, by no other than Abigail Williams, his ex-lover. Without John’s Involvement in the trials justice would not have been served, and all of those that were hung would have been hung without a reason, but Proctor settled for no less than the absolute truth. An example of this is when Proctor is when Proctor knows that the girls are lying and he is baffled as to why no one is charging them, or accusing them. “I’ll tell you what’s walkin in Salem-vengeance is walkin in Salem, but now the crazy little children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law.” (Act III).
As time has passed, throughout history, during different periods of time there are parallels. There are three eras that we are focussed on, where there are three types of people during each era. The three different eras that we’re focusing on, are The Salem Witch Trials (1600s), The McCarthy Era (1950s), and Today (2000s); the three types of people are the people who are the reasons why there’s accusations towards the accused, the accused, and finally the accusers. In The Crucible, or during the Salem Witch Trials, the person that’s the reason why characters were accused is John Proctor. The accuser in the play, who decides to point fingers at everyone, is Abigail Williams.
(8) Parris’s main goal in this situation is to simply save his reputation and his life, as it has always been. This is very ironic as the officials are often conversing about how the condemned might be “brought to God”, and that fate is greatly feared by Parris, as he does not want to meet his end for what he helped do to the people of Salem. (9) Hale’s dealings with the condemned greatly show his caring inner disposition, as at first he was concerned only with the court system, but in the end, he focused his efforts on the fates of the accused, much less how the court functioned. (10) Proctor’s decision meant death for himself and a missed opportunity to spend more time with Elizabeth and their children, but also set up the groundwork for the uprising in Salem, during which the evil courts would be overthrown. I think that Elizabeth possibly means that Proctor finally wholeheartedly believes that he has done some good in the world, as his actions laid the groundwork for the salvation of Salem.