There are many heroes in today’s society. Every person can have a different definition of what defines someone as a hero or something as heroic. Grant Wiggins, a local school teacher in A Lesson Before Dying and Jefferson’s friend, has his own definition of what it means to be a hero. It is arguable that there are two predominant heroic characters in the The Crucible, a drama written by Arthur Miller, and in A Lesson Before Dying, a historical fiction written by Ernest J. Gaines, John Proctor and Jefferson. John Proctor is the protagonist in The Crucible whose town is afflicted by the witch trials in 1692, and Jefferson is a main character in A Lesson Before Dying who is a black man on death row in the 1940s south. Both have specific traits
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While he is a well-respected man in his town, he had an affair with a young woman named Abigail who tries to get revenge on him and his wife because he did not reciprocate her feelings. The Crucible is set in 1692, and adultery was a crime that was punishable by death. When Abigail accuses Proctor’s innocent wife of witchcraft, he decides to confess to the crime of adultery to show the court that his wife is truly the victim and Abigail was accusing her out of jealousy. He confesses to the courtroom “I have known her sir. I have known her.” (Miller 3), making it known that he is guilty of a punishable offense. When he proclaims this he knows that he will be hung, but he put his wife’s life in front of his own in an attempt to clear her name as well as to save the entire town from Abigail’s accusations, because “a hero is someone who does something for other people” (Gaines 191). Another example of Proctor’s heroic character is when he realizes that by signing the confession to witchcraft he would inevitably convict his innocent friends and fellow townspeople of witchcraft, “Beguile me not! I blacken all of them when this is nailed to the church the very day they hang for silence!” (Miller 4). Even if they signed the same confession he did they would be found guilty and their names would be tarnished, or if they decided to be silent and unyielding in their innocence they would be killed. He rips up the …show more content…
They both exemplify heroic characteristics and traits. All heroes may not have super powers or wear capes, but all heroes have the ability to inspire and provide hope. In such a chaotic and unpredictable world, heros are a necessity. Society needs heroes to inspire everyday people; characters to live vicariously through, celebrate the triumphs with, and that will help through the tough and trying times. The world would be a much better place if everyone tried to live closer to Grant Wiggins’ definition of a
While he is a well-respected man in his town, he had an affair with a young woman named Abigail who tries to get revenge on him and his wife because he did not reciprocate her feelings. The Crucible is set in 1692, and adultery was a crime that was punishable by death. When Abigail accuses Proctor’s innocent wife of witchcraft, he decides to confess to the crime of adultery to show the court that his wife is truly the victim and Abigail was accusing her out of jealousy. He confesses to the courtroom “I have known her sir. I have known her.” (Miller 3), making it known that he is guilty of a punishable offense. When he proclaims this he knows that he will be hung, but he put his wife’s life in front of his own in an attempt to clear her name as well as to save the entire town from Abigail’s accusations, because “a hero is someone who does something for other people” (Gaines 191). Another example of Proctor’s heroic character is when he realizes that by signing the confession to witchcraft he would inevitably convict his innocent friends and fellow townspeople of witchcraft, “Beguile me not! I blacken all of them when this is nailed to the church the very day they hang for silence!” (Miller 4). Even if they signed the same confession he did they would be found guilty and their names would be tarnished, or if they decided to be silent and unyielding in their innocence they would be killed. He rips up the …show more content…
They both exemplify heroic characteristics and traits. All heroes may not have super powers or wear capes, but all heroes have the ability to inspire and provide hope. In such a chaotic and unpredictable world, heros are a necessity. Society needs heroes to inspire everyday people; characters to live vicariously through, celebrate the triumphs with, and that will help through the tough and trying times. The world would be a much better place if everyone tried to live closer to Grant Wiggins’ definition of a