In the character introduction we are told "He (John Proctor)was powerful of body, even tempered, and not easily led. The steady manner he displays does not spring from an untroubled soul. He is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time, but against his own vision of decent conduct. Proctor, has come to regard himself as a fraud." (2036) It is known in the play that John Proctor had an affair with Abigail, the accuser.

Even when John Proctor signs the paper, Elizabeth knows that this is his test. She can not be the judge of him, only God can be. The realization of his true identity comes when he figures out that he can not keep his good name and live. When he signs the confession, he knows that it is not what a "good man would do". Proctor cries with his own soul and says, "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dues on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name?" (2097) He knows now that if he dies, he can keep his good name, but if he lives, he shall loose it forever.

As we near the end of the story, John is still developing. He is required to find new information that will set his wife free. After a long battle with the ecclesiastical court he is found guilty of witchcraft himself. After being tortured in the prison, and before he is to be hung, he is permitted to see his wife, Elizabeth. At the end, Elizabeth knows the truth. She knows people are cracking under pressure and admitting to the false deeds that are proclaimed. She hold Rebecca in high regards because of her faithfulness to the truth. John asks about her, and the reply is, "Not Rebecca. She is one foot in Heaven now; naught may hurt her more." (2093) Here we see the admiration for Rebecca in the fact that she has not succumbed to the pressure of the court. Elizabeth sees her goodness, and is trying to tell John that he should do the same. She does want him alive, but she has worked so hard at creating an honest man, that she doesn't want him to live as a liar. "I have been thinking I would confess to the, Elizabeth. What say you? If I give them that?" And his good wife replies, "I cannot judge you, John." Goody Proctor knows that she has sinned too, and that in order for John to be saved, he must forgive himself. She makes the point that it is not her responsibility to save his soul, but that he must save himself. She then reminds him, "Whatever you will do, it is a good man does it." She wants him to be responsible for himself. She has created his identity by making him tell the truth. Now he is put to the test to whether he is indeed this new honest man that she helped develop, or the sinner, like the John Proctor at the beginning of the play.

Here John is committed to tell the truth, even if it exposes his affair with Abigail. The imagery of him falling like an ocean on the court is one that makes him appear to b

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Approximate Word count = 1684
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)