John Proctor's Reputation

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They say a rose by any other name is still a rose, but in 1692 Salem, people did not believe this at all. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the characters are ever concerned with how their reputations will be affected, more so than any other sense. Reverend Parris is concerned with how his reputation will suffer and if he will lose his job. John Proctor is concerned with his reputation and eventually dies for it.

Reverend Parris is shocked when he discovers that his niece, Abigail, and several other girls from Salem are caught dancing in the wood. In Puritan Salem, this would be a major sin would definitely lead to charges of witchcraft against Abigail and the other girls. Because he is related to Abigail by blood, he is incredibly fearful that he will also be considered guilty by association, and would lose his job. Therefore, he calls Reverend Hale from nearby Beverly to investigate witchcraft. This leads to the start of the carnival of fear and terror, known as the Salem Witch Trials. Only through his fear of losing his reputation and his job, Parris starts the whole ordeal in an attempted cover-up.

John Proctor starts off the same way as Parris, but eventually chooses to follow a different path. In the beginning of the trials, he does not testify …show more content…
They both treasure their reputations highly and would be dismayed if they were to lose their reputations. However, while Reverend Parris seeks to escape the damage by shifting the blame onto others, John Proctor is willing to sacrifice his reputation so that justice will be done. Nowadays, reputation is not as important to us as it was back then to the villagers of puritan Salem. However, we can find and take strength from John Proctor’s selflessness and determination when faced with the ultimate price. Whenever we may find a task daunting today, we shall be able to find

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