Tragic Hero: John Proctor 

The tragic hero is respected and respected,is a person who faces adversity,or demonstrates courage.However, sometimes he faces downfall as well. When a hero confronts downfall, he is recognized as a tragic hero in the face of danger. In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays John Proctor, the protagonist, as a tragic hero who has a major flaw lust for Abigail, his teenage house servant.

The story began with a witchcraft ceremony, but the theme of it is not the witchcraft and even not about witchcraft. As far as I am concerned, to some extent the theme of the story is to show human nature. You can’t imagine the content of a story can be so rich. Love, revenge, bad system, dignity, compromise and so on, all of the above are involved in this story. The general atmosphere in Salem is one of chaos and widespread panic. Everyone fears being accused of witchcraft, for the resultant punishment for such a crime is either loss of property, death, or both. Although he is a negligible non-identity holder in society, John Proctor is a much respected man in Salem. However, in determining his fate, he continues to make several critical and irreversible mistakes that harm his reputation. “Proctor, respected and even feared in Salem, has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud.” John is a sinner against the moral fashion of the time, because he had an affair with Abigail Williams. John is a sinner against his own vision of decent conduct, because he knows what he did, but nobody else knows. although an adulterer, became one of the most afflicted men in Salem when vengeance was sought upon his wife.

Abigail was previously the maid for the Proctor’s house. She was fired by proctor’s wife Elizabeth when Elizabeth discovered her affair with Proctor. Since then, she hated Elizabeth damage her fame and she wanted to kill Elizabeth and occupy Proctor through the witchcraft. However, her uncle Parris discovered when the witchcraft ceremony was held. After, a series of disaster happened. In order to protect herself, Abigail told lies to framed others. Gradually, she found that all people were cheated by her lies. Finally, she accused Elizabeth of witchcraft. Proctor, who had been keeping silence for a long time, wanted to expose her lies and tell the truth. John had to make the decision to either, live a lie and disgrace his family, or die with pride and a clean name. To John, it was a choice of the lesser of evils. Danforth: ‘Mr. Proctor. Did you bind yourself to the Devil’s service?’ Proctor: I did.’ John Proctor was found guilty of witchcraft and was to be hanged. When he had a chance to live, he gave in and confessed that he had seen the devil. Since John proctor is essentially a good and upright man throughout the story, his tragic death inspires pity and fear in the audience.John Proctor knew that the whirling accusations of witchery and contact with the Devil was not the moralistic, pure way of living a Christian life.

John Proctor also knew that God saw his sins, and that it shouldn’t matter what others believe of him, since God was the only true ruler of their world. “You’re the Devil’s man!I will not hang with you, I love God, I love God.” Mary Warren is talking about John Proctor when she says this. Shes is accusing John Proctor of trying to persuade her to side with the devil leading to John Proctor’s arrest. John gave up his life for the truth in the eyes of God and the truth in the eyes of society, but the result was even more tragic. He is willing to die for his pride, the dignity of the family and his love for God. “Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are!”. John is maintaining his personal dignity so that he can get the status he deserves in society. He can also know when he is dead that his family’s name is proud.

‘Is that document a lie? If it is a lie I will not accept it! What say you? I will not deal in lies, Mister! You will give me your honest confession in my hand, or I cannot keep you from the rope.’ Ironically, Danforth believes proctor lied because it was actually Elizabeth proctor who lied to protect him. One would think that such an important local official would be better able to find out who is lying and who has ulterior motives. It is ironic that Danforth is incapable of judging people correctly. However despite John not being born into nobility, he possesses many noble characteristics. John Proctor was a noble man throughout The Crucible. When Elizabeth was taken to jail, She said:“He have his goodness now, God forbid I take it from him.” Elizabeth says this at the end of The Crucible, it’s very important because that’s why she didn’t step in and ask John not to confess, in order to save his life. She stood watching her husband go to the gallows, not begging him to reconsider; Instead, she said he was finally ‘on his own’ and she dared not interfere. For a long time, John felt for the first time that he was a person worthy of respect, integrity and courage. For a long time in the past, he felt guilty about his derailment and felt pain and contradiction.But in the end, he proved himself.

John Proctor is fully in line with the type of tragic hero because he has all the qualities of a tragic hero. He respected all people in the Salem community, and stood up for everybody during his final hour, John Proctor is a very noble and proud person who, after a tragic death, purifies his soul and becomes a symbol of purity and justice, letting others follow.

Work Cited

1. https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crucible/ Asher Miller (1915)