John Proctor's Responsibility In The Crucible

Improved Essays
Unresolved transgressions terminate in the same fashion as do untended wounds- they fester and then become infected. By committing adultery, refusing to confess, and leaving his family in the end, John Proctor destroys everything he once had.While the majority withdraws from its own demise, a few people, including John Proctor, believe that the greatest responsibility of mankind is to stand firm for what an individual honestly believes to be the only morally acceptable choice.
People in Salem have been accused of witchcraft and the people that accused them are doing so for selfish reasons. Many of the people in the village recognize what is happening, but, many do not. Even though she is married to one of the main accusers, Mrs, Putnam recognizes
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Judge Danforth, a man who is supposed to be unbiased to the things happening in Salem is anything but. He wants to save his reputation and if he accepts the truth, his reputation is ruined because of all those wrongly accused people that were thrown in jail. Danforth says, “I judge nothing. I tell you straight, Mister - I have seen marvels in this court. I have seen people choked before my eyes by spirits; I have seen them stuck by pins and slashed by daggers. I have until this moment not the slightest reason to suspect that the children may be deceiving me. Do you 'understand my meaning”(3.295-305.509). Furthermore, Danforth ignorance is shown every time he refuses to look at the cold hard facts that are staring him right in his face. In in the wake his ignorance, there is also stubbornness and the want to save his reputation. An old saying says that bad company corrupts good manners and Mr. Danforth has found himself in the company of a few people that have been known for having deplorable character. Danforth states,“No, old man, you have not hurt these people if they are of good conscience. But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time - we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself …show more content…
His first attempt to put a stop to this, he goes and speaks to Abigail alone, but she does not want to listen to his logic. Abigail states,"Oh, John, I will make you such a wife when the world is white again"(2.2). Moreover, Elizabeth, John's wife, knows why she has been put in jail and is trying to convince John that his adulterous actions are to blame. John is in denial and the tension between him and his wife is high, Elizabeth states,”She wants me dead. I knew all week it would come to this! ….It is her dearest hope, John, I know it (453-454.492)......... There be a thousand names; why does she call mine? There be a certain danger in calling such a name - I am no Goody Good that sleeps in ditches, nor Osburn, drunk and half-witted. She’d dare not call out such a farmer’s wife but there be monstrous profit in it. She thinks to take my place, John”(2.490-499.493). Throughout the whole play Proctor is adamant in not telling of his affair with Abigail because he wants to save his name in the village. He finally realizes that it is a futile effort and it is not actually going to help free Elizabeth so he tells of his affair. He does this to try and put the whole thing to rest and prove that the people who have been accused are innocent. Proctor states, “his voice about to break, and his shame great: In the proper place—where my beasts are bedded.

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