Imagine, all those close to your heart, your dear friends, or the innocent are being accused and convicted of a horrible crime. Would you tarnish your own name if it would save them? In the American tragedy The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many readers consider the protagonist, John Proctor to be the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. The hero would rather die than to tarnish his name, dignity, and honor. The protagonist, John Proctor, is the embodiment of a tragic hero.
John Proctor is known in the town to be a good and honest man. He owns a farm, has a family and many friends in Salem. However, Proctor has a fatal …show more content…
After several trials and executions, Hale pleads to Elizabeth to beg Proctor to plead guilty to his charges and save his life. Proctor agrees and signs his name to a confession. However, when they ask for the paper, Proctor refuses. “ PROCTOR, with a cry of his whole soul: 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!” (IV.284-294) In the end, Proctor still carries his pride and will not sacrifice what is still good about his name for his life. He would rather die an honest man than to live as a liar that sold out his friends. Another factor to his retraction of the confession was that if he went through with his confession his land would confiscated and sold. This means that he would have no land to his name and his sons would inherit nothing from him. This is a great factor that makes him a tragic hero. He would rather sacrifice his life to give his sons a better life. “ELIZABETH: […] He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!(IV.207-208) Elizabeth is at peace with her husband's decision and respects that this is something he must do to save his
John Proctor is known in the town to be a good and honest man. He owns a farm, has a family and many friends in Salem. However, Proctor has a fatal …show more content…
After several trials and executions, Hale pleads to Elizabeth to beg Proctor to plead guilty to his charges and save his life. Proctor agrees and signs his name to a confession. However, when they ask for the paper, Proctor refuses. “ PROCTOR, with a cry of his whole soul: 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!” (IV.284-294) In the end, Proctor still carries his pride and will not sacrifice what is still good about his name for his life. He would rather die an honest man than to live as a liar that sold out his friends. Another factor to his retraction of the confession was that if he went through with his confession his land would confiscated and sold. This means that he would have no land to his name and his sons would inherit nothing from him. This is a great factor that makes him a tragic hero. He would rather sacrifice his life to give his sons a better life. “ELIZABETH: […] He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!(IV.207-208) Elizabeth is at peace with her husband's decision and respects that this is something he must do to save his