In the play, The Crucible, John Proctor quoted “Because it is my name!, Because I cannot have another in my life. How may I live without my name, leave me my name! ( page 138).” He has very strong belief’s that if his name is blackened there is no reason to live. John Proctor also chose to die because he could not double cross his friends, the fact that he has three children, John could not raise his children to walk like men in the world if he himself was not a true man. Therefore for the sake of his name, reputation and his kids, John’s decision to die is the right one.
Family life and friendship is very important to John Proctor, husband and father of three, if he lived then he could not possibly raise his kids to be men in the world if their father is a sell out to his friends. He wanted to teach them that they should stand up for what they believe in and not give in to unjust courts and/or other examples in life. By dying he taught his kids that not only he is not a sell out but he also taught them that he stood up for what he believed in. John Proctor is not a man known to go to church often, but he must of remember this quote from the bible: “No one has love greater than this that someone should surrender his soul in behalf of his friends”(John 15:13). This quote means that someone should surrender his or her soul for their friends, and by dying and standing up for what he believed in he taught his kids a valuable lesson.
Proctors decision to die also solved his inner conflict with himself. This conflict is his adultery with Abigail, which really exasperated him. “Because it speaks deceit and I am honest! But I’ll plead no more! I see now your spirit twists around the single error of my life, and I will never tear it free!” (page 60). This quote made from John Proctor explains how he can not tear his guilt away from himself, and that he feels very bad for making this single big error of his life. By choosing to die John did not have to live with the guilt of defying his wife and God.
The most important reason John Proctor decided to die is that he would not blacken his name throughout the town. If John betrayed his friends by confessing their sins, a man of his nobility could not live through the guilt. Also John did not want to ruin his reputation as a man who stands up and would die for what he believes in. John Proctor knew the importance of a name and how it defines someone. If John Proctor were named a sell out, then his whole family would be instinctively named as sellouts too.
John Proctor was a man with strong beliefs that if his name was blackened he would have no reason to live at all. When he chose to die, he proved to everyone that he is not a sell out to an unjust court. Friendship and family is very important to John Proctor and he did not want his family to be looked upon as sell outs because of his wrongful doings. It is a very good decision that John stood his ground and died for what he believed in .
Word count 651
Bibliography
- Miller, Arthur, The Crucible, New York U.S.A., Bantam Books, 1981
- John, New world translations of the holy scriptures, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Watchtower Books, 1984