The Test Of Faith

Arthur Miller first points John Proctor out with a flaw, his affair with Abigail Williams, that's has left him with a guilty conscience. Wishing to repent for his sins John must commit another sin; just as he goes to commit his sin of throwing his life away for pride Reverend John Hale says, " God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride." (Pg. 882) Thus Hale permits certain commandments to be for the sake of others lives. Though John commits adultery he tries to lead an exemplary life; he tries to win forgiveness from his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, who is a good Christian woman and tries to teach Proctor self-forgiveness. John decides that his name and integrity are all that he has left and that he will die for them even if he is committing a sin.

The sins John faces make him a troubled sinner, but at the same time give him a kind of humanity that the people who might read the book may recognize in themselves. John is also a character who believes that his name and integrity are important no matter what; John yells in his final moments, " Because it is my name! Because I can't...? I have given you my soul; leave me my name." (Pg. 886) He in the end learns that even though he will lose his life he has stuck by his friends and that his sins can no longer burden him and he is free to go to heaven. John teaches us that we must stand up for what we believe in and never give up for though we may commit sins we are able to release that burden by living a moral life from that day forward.

John is also a man who tries to do good even though he faces many hardships; he takes on many of the properties of John Constantine who faces his sin of committing suicide and hopes to redeem himself by sending as many demons as he can back to hell. Both Proctor and Constantine are portrayed as sinners, who throw their lives away, but they both in the end learn that they must be true to themselves, and they realize that