John Proctor Confession

Confession Throughout the whole play The Crucible there has been a cry of witchcraft in the town. Being that none of the townspeople knew the truth, there were many trials going on for weeks. One of the most affected characters in the play is John Proctor, he knew the truth and thought the whole situation was foolish. Now he has been accused of witchcraft, now he has to make a difficult decision whether to tell the truth and die or live a lie. For a moment he caved in and signed a confession stating that he has been practicing witchcraft. Despite the consequences he could not countie with the lie and ripped up the confession. He gave up his life for standing for what he believed in, he did not want to be a bad example for his sons. Additionally …show more content…
He did not want his sons to think of him in as a sinner or a lie. He believes that he would not be able to rise his sons the way he would like, if they thought that he was unhonest. On page 144 “ I have three children--how may I teach them to walk like men in the world”. His children have a huge impact in his life and he does not want to disappoint them for a mistake that he did not compete. As a result of the love he had for his children he was able to make the decision with not so much pain as he thought he would …show more content…
He believed so strongly about his name, that he did not want to have his name on the church door. He thought that it was unfair of the court to ruin and talk down on his name for something he did not really do. “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 dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name.” Proctor knew that he was already sign a lie, he did not want his name to get put into the lie as well. At this point Proctor knew that he could not kept on fueling up the foolishness going on in the town, therefore had to rip up the confession.
Overall these events gave Proctor no other choice but not to sign the confession. He stuck to what he knew was true and did not give in to the punishment that the court gave him. Due to the fact that he knew living a life with the crime of witchcraft was not one he wanted to live. He would have rather die an honest man other than live a life of a sinner. His choice was the best one anymore could have done and he did it for the right reasons. After his decision was made Proctor was at peace with the world, he has done everything he could have to make a change in the chaos of this witchcraft