John Proctor Tragic, or Pathetic (The Crucible)
"I have given you my soul; leave me my name!" (138). This is the disturbing vision we are left with at the end of Arthur Miller's play The Crucible. This scream is let out by the main character John Proctor; who has been accused of witchcraft, and is to be hung on that merit unless he confesses. John Proctor is innocent of such deeds, yet he will lose his life if he does not admit he committed such a dastardly crime. But if he does admit to it he will be considered an outcast in his town and he fears that he will never be able to raise his children properly and be able to teach them to "walk like men in the world" (137). But in the same spirit, how will he be able to teach his children at all if he is hung. This is the Trap that has been set for John Proctor. His choice though is the one of a coward; for if he had instead of being hung chose to live the rest of his life as an outcast he would at least still be able to teach his children the error of his ways. Thus because John Proctor had a way out of his trap and opted not to take it because of selfish pride he is not tragic. Tragedy has been said to be the "progress from ignorance, through a cycle of suffering, to enlightenment" (
John Proctor is not a tragic figure, though he definitely is confined in a trap; he has a way out, he just chooses not to exercise that out and ends up dead. Can a trap in which one can escape truly be considered a trap at all? the answer is no; much less a trap of tragic proportions. He fears he would be looked on as being a coward if he confesses to being in alliance with the devil, and since "god damns all liars" (112) it would be in conflict with his communities religion to confess, but he truly is a coward for fearing what others will think of him if he does come clean and "give(s) them such a lie" (132). Therefore it can be said that John Proctor is just a pathetic man who needs to be part of a society so much that he is willing to give up his life rather then live out the rest of his days being looked on as one who couldn't stay within the rules of his society. This play brings about the same basic idea as that entailed within the story The Lottery. But Whereas in the Lottery where everyone goes along with the society's ideals John Proctor for a brief moment goes against them when he declares "I want my life.... I will have my life" (132). Unfortunately though he then seeps back into his cowardliness and allows himself to be taken off to the gallows because of his inability to go against the gauntlet which has been thrown before him. He even admits at one point that his "wife will never die for [him]" (77). Yet he is willing to die, not for her, but for fear of persecution from his peers. John Proctor choose to not be tragic, he chose to be like Rebecca Nurse and all the others and just let the people in authority do what they will because there will is the will of god's and to go against that would be considered wrong. Even though he tells Rebecca that he "like not the smell of this authority" (28) he still goes along with them because no matter how much he despises them he still couldn't bare to live in a society where he is not well respected. Thus John Proctor is by no means tragic
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Approximate Word count = 1358
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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