The Ethical Journey of John Proctor in The Crucible As He Tries Fixing His Mistakes

For the duration of the era of the Salem Witch Trials America turned into a bloodbath fueled by worry and greed. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible the puritan town of Salem and it is people go by way of dramatic adjustments, especially the primary character of the play John Proctor. Numerous innocent people are accused of witchcraft and John tries to prove the court incorrect, but ends up being imprisoned and sentenced to death. Via out the play, John Proctor becomes more ethical and will do something to repair his errors, even if it signifies to die.

In Act I and II of The Crucible, John Proctor acts selfishly. “Abby, I might think of you softly from time to time but I will cut off my hand ahead of I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of thoughts. We never ever touched, Abby.” (1109) John had an affair, but just now realizes that it tends to make his wife resent him. With out thinking about Abigail’s emotions towards him he tells her to overlook their experiences together. This shows that John by no means had feelings for Abigail and took benefit of her naive feelings. John also told his wife “I will take your suspicion no much more, women.” (1122) His wife, Elizabeth, knows that he had an affair so she is suspicious. John does not understand why she’s mad right after he apologized, so he gets upset that his wife is still mad at him. This shows that John does not realize his wife’s feelings. For that reason, in Act I and II John only acts for himself.

In the subsequent few Acts of The Crucible, John Proctor is beginning to use his expertise to speak up against the trials. When Hale comes to his property for questioning soon after Abigail told the court that Elizabeth was practicing witchcraft, he says “ I—I have no witness and can't prove it, except my word be taken. But I know the children’s sickness had naught to do with witchcraft.”(1130) In the course of this time, the court is sentencing several folks to death for minor actions. John realizes that he has the opportunity to save lives if he tells the judges what he knows about Abigail. One more quote that shows how John changed in Act II is when he tells Hale “And why not, if they should hang for denyin’ it? There are them that will swear to anything prior to they’ll hang have you never believed of that?”. He tells this to Hale right after he tells John that he has questioned all of the accused and they confessed. John is speaking out to Hale about the corruption of the court, and at some point Hale agrees with John. The quotes utilised show that John has started to modify into a far better individual.

John now realizes that the court is corrupt simply because of his actions. Following he went to court to confess his affair with Abigail, the court saw him as a liar and he told the judges “You are pulling heaven down and raising up a whore!” (1152) The court constantly relies on Abigail to figure out who is a witch, but she lies to distract from the truth that she did witchcraft and slept with John. John knows that Abigail is lying and does not want the court to rely on her any longer. John is desperate for the court to think him, but he knows that if he signs his name on the document he’ll by no means have the opportunity to speak in court again. Right after he refused to sign his name on the document saying that he confessed to witchcraft, he shouted at the court judges “Because it is my name! Due to the fact I can not have yet another in my life! Since I lie and sign myself to lies! Due to the fact I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How might I live without having my name? I have provided you my soul leave me my name!” (1164) This was one particular of the most emotional components of the play due to the fact Proctor has admitted that he hasn’t carried out witchcraft. If an individual who was convicted of witchcraft says that they’re innocent, they will be killed since the court assumes that they’re a liar. John feels that if he confessed to witchcraft he wouldn’t be worth the dirt on the feet of these that didn’t confess due to the fact they decided to die pure than reside as a liar, in contrast to him. This shows that John has certainly changed throughout the play.

Throughout the play, John Proctor becomes a lot more ethical and will do something to fix his blunders, even if it implies to die. John proctor went from acting selfishly in Act I and II, speaking up in Act III and to transforming into an individual that acts for the higher excellent in Act IV