John Proctor Character Analysis

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The color gray cannot be considered completely black or completely white, but it does usually favor one of the two. All people, John Proctor included, fall somewhere into this gray void of good and evil. By definition, a good man is one who is honorable, virtuous, and morally excellent. Through the eyes of his accusers, Proctor fails to meet these standards, but I would argue that he does in the eyes of God. John Proctor is only human, and he has made a myriad of mistakes, but ultimately, he is a good man with a conviction to do the right thing. Proctor’s good qualities are clearly evident. He is honest at heart. All sects of humanity will tell lies, some more often than others will. However, when asked about his affair by his wife, he had the courage to be completely honest. It is easy to tell the truth when it leans in your favor, but it takes a truly good person to speak truthfully about their faults. He is also ultimately selfless. He struggles with ruining his name to save his friends, but again, he has a strong enough moral compass to do the right thing and throw away his greatest pride. He sacrifices himself willingly, and thus…show more content…
Although earlier in his life he made many mistakes, his end days have uncanny parallels to the life of Jesus. Like Jesus, he was a relatively young laborer that was falsely accused of attempting to destroy a theocratic institution by a corrupt jury; in actuality, his motivation was to save those he loved. In addition, he was tempted to join the side of evil, but remained adamant. He had the ability to save himself from his execution, but refused to do so, keeping his selfless efforts from becoming futile. Proctor even had a symbolic resurrection with the production and eventual popularity of The Crucible. Although the comparison is not exact, the epitome of goodness itself shares a similar story and motivation with this man. Why would anyone consider him an innately bad

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