Do you consider John Procter to be heroic?

John Proctor was a farmer in Salem, Massachusetts in America and, because he had a lot of land, he was a well respected in the village. He was married to Elizabeth and they had three children together. He was involved in the 1692 Salem witch trials, which provoked mass hysteria amongst the people of the village. At the end of the trials, twenty people innocent of witchcraft were hanged. John Proctor was an ordinary farmer - how could he possibly be considered heroic?

Although Proctor was respected, he was also somewhat feared. People reacted to his air of authority. For example, Mary Warren, the Proctors' servant, begs: "Pray, pray, hurt me not," which, to me, suggests she is afraid of her master. On a previous occasion, Mary is said to have leapt up in fright when Proctor enters the room.

Proctor is strong willed and he has an inner belief in his own views and morals. He is a principled man, not a hypocrite. He generally will not do something he doesn't believe in. This point is illustrated by the fact that he will not go to church regularly because he does not respect the minister, Reverend Samuel Parris. Parris wants to re

I believe that in order to be a hero one has to be heroic but I do not believe that all heroic people are heroes. There is no doubt in my mind that John Proctor was heroic. He lost his life wrongfully because he would not confess to something that had never happened. He could have taken the easy way out by signing his name to a confession but his conscience knew that this was wrong. He was not a weak man who lied easily and the thought of blackening his name filled him with horror because by doing so he would also blacken his family and friends. Throughout the course of the Salem witch trials, Proctor changes from a slightly selfish man who had a quiet life as a farmer to a selfless man willing to give up his life because he remained honest. This nobility is, to me, very heroic. However, when it comes down to it, he did not achieve some feat of great strength or intelligence. He did not save little children from a burning house. He was an adulterer, and he broke several of the Ten Commandments. He was not a hero - he was a man who had to do the right thing.

However, as soon as Elizabeth and his other friends are accused by Abigail of being involved with the devil Proctor's attitudes change. He has a loyal nature and when people he cares about are in trouble he does not think twice about trying to help them. He becomes determined and acts quickly because his friends are in jeopardy. By going to court, and publicly admitting his affair, Proctor demonstrates staunch courage - he is willing to blacken his name in order that his friends' names are cleared. When threatened with death if he doesn't own up to doing the devil's work, Proctor defies the court by maintaining

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Approximate Word count = 1139
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)