A man of conscience is one who is aware of his moral and ethical beliefs and judgments and one who will prefer right over wrong. The life of such man is ruled by the desire to seek the truth and justice in all that surrounds him, including himself. These attributes are seen in both character, John Proctor from Arthur Miller’s play, “The Crucible”, set in Salem in the early seventeenth century and in Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird” set in New York in 1950.
In the play “The Crucible” set in the town of Salem which is burdened by the belief of witches, we are introduced to the main character John Proctor. John has the conscience of an honest man even though he has committed a severe sin, which he hides, adultery. Because of this his name is tainted, making the reader doubt the goodness in him. When Proctor reveals the truth in court, we are surprised because he has confessed knowing it will blacken his name, and he has done this in order to save his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. Because of this we are able to see that Proctor bears responsibility for what has occurred. However when he confesses, Abigail turns against him and accuses Proctor of being a witch. Now this man faces a new dilemma and wrestles with his conscience debating whether to save himself from the gallows with a confession to witchcraft, which he did not commit. Hale and the judges pressure him into confessing to a lie, even though he comes close to doing do. He cannot bring himself to
I have no proof for it. " Proctor never reveals an honest confession until now. He admits to Elizabeth he cheated on her which she suspected during the time. Elizabeth pleads with John to tell the truth at court to stop the innocent deaths of people and turn in the real problem- Abigail. By going to the court with hard proof, John's crime of adultery goes public.
Afraid of destroying his reputation in the town, John and his wife, Elizabeth, kept this secret to themselves. This would all change after Mary Warren accused Proctor of afflicting her with his spirit. In court, Mr. Proctor would eventually confess to adultery. With his reputation ruined and accusations against him, John
John Proctor is another character who encounters the effects of groupthink trying to define him. John is a local farmer who is married to Elizabeth Proctor and is a very strong and independent man. He also fears that people will associate his name with sin, which may impact his decision not to plead guilty to witchcraft. Acknowledging that he tries to be a man of God, he confessed to having an affair with Abigail, which jeopardized his marriage and put his reputation of being a man of God at risk.
Arthur Miller wrote play The Crucible, which is based on a real story; play begins in a very interesting moment and ends in a very dramatic scene. At the time, when the play was written, witchcraft was a big thing for people. People used witchcraft to accuse other people and take their property, or because they just don’t like them. The story shows us, how do characters have changed from the beginning of the play and until the very end. The Proctor is one of the main characters in The Crucible.
J.F.Clarke once said "the bravest of individual is the one who obeys his or her conscience ". The most courageous people are those who challenge forces in society wedged they know those forces are corrupt or wrong. The refrain from sacrificing their personal beliefs to popular ideologies. This is certainly true add often evident in many works literature , including the Adventure of Huckleberry Finn ,by Mark Twain, and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. The protagonist in Huckleberry Finn goes through a struggle with his conscience over whether to comfort to Society 's beliefs about slaves as property .
Guilt is emotional torture that transforms one's psychological operation. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, before the Salem witch trials emerge, John Proctor cheats on his wife Elizabeth Proctor, with young Abigail. Causing him to live with an eternal shame that generates dispute. Proctor’s endeavour is to elude from his wrongdoing, but he cannot because of the disgrace he feels himself to be when around Elizabeth. Miller shows that John Proctor's emotional and behavioral conflict rises from his guilt.
The story of The Crucible written by Arthur Miller tells the events of John Proctor and the Salem witch trials. John Proctor is a man who is haunted by his guilt of adultery and doesn’t want his good name to be ruined. Throughout the events of John Proctor which have led to the moment wear he tears up his confession that would of save his life but condemned those who didn’t confess or pled guilty to witchcraft. This act is believable for the character of John Proctor as well of his sense of goodness returning. With the events that happen to John Proctor that led to this final noble act is justify with who he is as a person.
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.
In The Crucible, John Proctor the protagonist, becomes a victim of the witch trials when his wife Elizabeth, is accused of witchcraft. In order to free his wife, Proctor must convince Judge Danforth of his wife’s innocence. Judge Danforth does not sign condemnations lightly and takes meticulous inspection of his cases to determine the guilty party. He is also a highly religious man who takes matters between God and men seriously. It is because of Danforth’s dedication to the law and God that Proctor utilizes ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade him.
He overcomes this struggle, trying to stay committed to his already upset wife, but he had already committed a treacherous sin. John Proctor had to live the rest of his days with the loathsome guilt towards himself. Throughout the novel, John Proctor debates whether or not he is an honest man. Even though he keeps his sin a secret from the rest of the town, his wife knows that he’s an adulterer.
Even though John Proctor commits adultery he still is trying to be an honest person and has been trying to keep his name clean. When John Proctor goes to court with Mary Warren to tell the Judges the truth. When the Judges started questioning him, he admitted his affair with Abigail Williams, which put his name at risk. John Proctor was given the choice to tell the truth and be prosecuted or confess to a crime he did not commit and be set free. He chose to tell the truth and got sent to jail.
John Proctor the Wrongly Accused In The Crucible there are many people condemned and hanged for witchcraft, one of these, John Proctor, I believe to be innocent. A man with as much integrity and honesty as John Proctor, could never perform the act of witchcraft. Undoubtedly he wasn’t a perfect man but no one ever is. As we are proved time and time again, John is an honest, hardworking man; who is haunted by his past misdeeds.
John Proctor never settles for keeping his opinion or what he thinks is right to himself. He knows telling Danforth that he is guilty for adultery won’t help his cause but it shows his desperation to win the case in order protect his wife, Elizabeth. John Proctor was sick and tired of watching Abigail win with a lie, in this case he spoke the truth knowing his consequences. John states, “Excellency, forgive me, forgive me. She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave!
There is no such thing as the truth, people lie and others continue to believe them. Except one, John Proctor from the beginning of the play is on the side of justice, and finding the truth. From the beginning of the play he questions the idea of witchcraft, and believes that it is just another act from Abigail Williams. An example of how Proctor is always on the side of truth is when he is in court and he confesses to having an affair with Abigail Williams. "A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now.
Both Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” and Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” are both books that present us with the theme of ‘men of conscience’. John Proctor and Atticus Finch, both fictional characters from the books, are considered to be ‘men of conscience’. A man of conscience is a man aware of the moral and ethical judgements he has a strong desire to do the right thing whenever possible. The life of these men is ruled by their desire to seek the truth and justice in the situations around them; these traits are displayed in both of the characters throughout both the novel and the play.