FREE ESSAY ON THE CRUCIBLE: JOHN PROCTOR

THE CRUCIBLE: JOHN PROCTOR

In the book The Crucible there is a struggle within to have one have a sense of belonging
to society. They want to be loved by that society no matter how much they may seem that
they don't belong. But they do want to show that to everyone, everyone that may not think
that. 
John Proctor is a good example of a struggle to find a place in society. He's the type of
person that wants to plow his fields on the good days even if the good day is only on
Sunday of that week. His struggle to make a living with his crops gets him into trouble
with the very religious Puritan community of Salem Massachusetts. If John Proctor has a
fault its that he's to honest when he thinks your wrong about something he will make you
know about it. 
John Proctor only got involved with this whole witch trial because of a girl by the name
of Abigail Williams. If it wasn't for her falling in love with John then he wouldn't be
put on trial for anything. Abigail got him involved with the witch trials because John
wanted to go back to his wife and he didn't want Abigail in his life at all. After
Abigail came into his life he started not believing in himself. He was struggling in life
and with this family life. He tries to ignore the events in Salem but when Mary Warren
announces that she is an official of the court and that Elizabeth Proctor has been
mentioned. Proctor still wants to dismiss the hearings but his wife uses his guilt about
adultery to extract a promise that he will expose Abigail as a fraud. 
As a result of being involved with the witch trials he finds himself accused of being a
witch. After being tried and condemned to death, John refuses to confess. But he doesn't
want to die because of some witches that are just making lies. So he signs the paper that
is going to be nailed to the church door saying he has committed sins. He asks himself
"God in heaven, what is John Proctor, what is John Proctor." He is asking if John Proctor
is considered honest or a liar. Because he knows he did nothing wrong in his life but he
is accused and no one wants to believe him. But he shortly takes back his claim and
refuses to sign it because he doesn't want his friends being condemned for his actions,
"I speak my own sins, I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it." So by doing so he
answers part of the question "What is John Proctor" by coming forth on his own view of
himself. John Proctor cannot live with the lie if he had signed that confession, so he
will die by his own honesty. 
With a man just trying to make a living with his life, he finds himself involved with
something he didn't want to get involved with at all. He was struggling not to get
involved with the trials and yet he still wanted to live his own life not being told what
to do by other people while still being like by other people in the community. He didn't
want his name to be ruined by signing that confession. If he did his life would be ruined
people would think of him as being evil when his name would be mentioned. He didn't want
his sons to have them see there father being shunned by the community. All this man
wanted to do was to be loved and respected by others.