Compare And Contrast Merrill And John Proctor

Both main characters in The Crucible and Guilty By Suspicion, John Proctor and David Merrill respectively, have similar character traits. Some obvious similar traits can be seen without much insight into the characters themselves or even deep insight into the plot. Both Proctor and Merrill are middle-aged family men with children and both of their marriages are strained, though due to different circumstances; Proctor had cheated on his wife with Abigail when she was their servant and Merrill was away for months at a time due to the nature of his work as a film director. As one digs under the surface of these men’s lives and looks at the men themselves, it's plain to see that they display similar character traits as well.
Both protagonists display a certain righteousness when confronted with the possibility of taking the easy way out of their desperate situations and see through that they do the right, though tough, action. Merrill was tempted by a new offer for a job at his old studio if he were to name his friends. Though he intended to name his friends at the House Un-American Activities Committee, he ultimately decides not to name anyone on principle and inspires his friends to do the same. Even Proctor, a lecher, would rather sacrifice his own moral standing and image in Salem to destroy Abigail’s image of a saint and …show more content…
The “crimes” these institutions try to convict and punish people for, witchcraft and communism, are both “invisible crimes”, crimes that essentially have no way to proving innocence or guilt of the defendant. Because of this crucial fact, anyone accused of one of these crimes would be “guilty by suspicion”, for lack of a better term. Essentially, just because one was subject to a rumor, they would be assumed guilty of a “crime” that would have been likely to have little backing in