The Hero in John Proctor

The Hero in John Proctor

      Heroism has been glorified in movies and literature since the beginning of time.  Everyone wants to be their own hero.  In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, heroism is depicted through many of his characters during the Salem Witchcraft Trials, but most often through John Proctor, a simple farmer in Massachusetts.  John Proctor was also by definition, a tragic hero who gave his life because of one weakness.  His weakness was lusting for Abigail Williams.  

      In the second act of the play, Arthur Miller portrays John Proctor as a man living with the resonating guilt of committing adultery while trying so desperately to please his dull wife, Elizabeth.  She does not forgive nor forget what happened between John and Abigail Williams.  Proctor’s frustration with this fact is clearly shown in Act II when he says, “Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’.  Learn charity, woman. I have gone tiptoe in this house all seven month since she is gone.  I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you, and still an everlasting funeral marches round your heart.  I cannot speak but I am doubted, every moment judged for lies, as though I come into court when I come into this house!” (Miller 1203)  Even though he understood the severity of what he did, he continued the arduous chore of trying to please Elizabeth.  Unfortunately, the uncomfortable, unpleasant relationship between John and Elizabeth continued throughout most of the play.

     In another account of Proctor’s moral character, he argued with Abigail Williams in an attempt to dispel all hope she has of their love.  She pleaded with him saying softly, “And you must. You are no wintry man, John. I know you. I cannot sleep for dreamin’; I cannot dream but wake and walk about the house as though I’d find you comin’ through the door” (Miller 1184).  He, even with his feelings for her, tells her, “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby” (Miller 1184).  That showed Proctor trying to move forward and forget what he had done.

     In John’s mind, authority was derived from a place not usually thought of by Puritans.  He felt that instead of God knowing what’s best for him like all Puritans believe, he, in his conscious mind would decide. When Reverend Parris told him of the faction against Him and all authority, and the party within the church, John simply said, “Why then I must find it and join it” (Miller 1188).  He represented the people breaking away from the church and the strict, unrealistic beliefs of the Puritan faith.  John nailed the roof on the church and even hung the door, but unwavering dislike towards Parris kept him from getting his third child baptized and attending church for Sabbath prayer.

     After hearing that Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse had been accused of witchcraft, John found the courage to tell Reverend Hale the real reason that both Betty and Ruth were ill.  Abigail had told him the secret, but he was not to speak of it for the fear of being accused.  Elizabeth urged him to confess what he was told and said to Hale, “I—I have no witness and cannot prove it, except my word be taken. But I know the children’s sickness had naught to do with witchcraft. Mr. Parris discovered them sportin’ in the woods. They were startled and took sick” (Miller 1212).  Hale didn’t believe John at first because so many had confessed to witchcraft, but in appealing to Hale’s reasoning of logic, he stated, “And why not, if they must hang for denyin’ it? There are them that will swear to anything before they’ll hang; have you never thought of that?” (Miller 1212) Proctor was the one to always fight for what he believed and for the lives of the innocent. He would never think to endanger his friend’s lives by confessing incriminating details unless of course, it was towards Abigail Williams, the girl whose one lie catapulted a barrage of preposterous accusations on the innocent.  

     Soon after Martha and Rebecca were accused, Abigail contrived a way to accuse Elizabeth and make her last move to win John Proctor, the man she lusted for.  Cheever, the clerk of the courts told John, “The girl, the Williams girl, Abigail Williams sir. She sat to dinner in Reverend Parris’s house tonight, and without word nor warnin’ she falls to the floor. Like a struck beast, he says, and screamed a scream that a bull would weep to hear. And he goes to save her, and, stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out. And demandin’ of her how she come to be so stabbed, she testify it were your wife’s spirit pushed it in” (Miller 1215).  The needle in her stomach was said to be from the poppet that was given to Elizabeth by Mary Warren, the Proctor’s house maid. The fact that the poppet was made by Mary and that Abby had watched her put the needle in it during court was never mentioned as it would falsify her accusation. John saw that his wife was in danger and did the only thing he could do, tell Mary Warren to testify against Abigail. It was the only way to help Elizabeth without endangering his own life in the process. Taking Mary by the throat, Proctor said, “Make your peace with it! Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs, and all our pretense is ripped away—make your peace!…it is a providence, and no great change; we are only what we were, but naked now…and the wind, God’s icy wind, will blow! (Miller 1218)  There was nothing left for him to do to save Elizabeth except confess his sin because it was already exposed. Both Abigail and Mary knew, but only Abigail would tell the courts of John’s lechery.