In this
play John Proctor really cares about his “name” and what the town thought of
him. Through out the play this shows in the way he interacts with the rest of
Salem. A major example of this is when he is reluctant to confess his affair
with Abigail.
I think
John is a hero because in the last scene he is about to lie and “confess” to
being a witch, but he then decides on integrity. Proctor rips up his signed
confession and goes to be hung. John chose to have integrity even though it was
so easy for him to lie and not be hung. John stated that to lie and stay alive
it would be a dishonor to the people who chose to not lie. I also think that he
did this to not dishonor his name; Proctor wanted to be brave enough to die for
something that he didn’t do.
I enjoyed
this last scene because of the emotion and dialogue between John and Elizabeth.
John asks Elizabeth for forgiveness, to which she replies, it’s not mine to
give. He later asks again and she tells him that she doesn’t need to forgive
him, he needs to forgive himself. I think this means that he has been so caught
up in holding his image and hating him self for his sins that he forgot to
forgive himself. Even though Elizabeth was hurt by the affair she still loves
John and John still loves her. This was a nice ending because John was able to
see himself and he was able to choose integrity.
I agree with what you say about John Proctor being a hero. He definitely could have chose to lie and save himself quite easily, but he did stay true to his belief and his name. I also think the ending was nice, because it allowed him to, like you said, keep his integrity but also clear everything up with his wife. He died a heroic death and didn't really leave anything unfinished.
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree the ending really showed what kind of person John is.
ReplyDeleteI thin it's interesting that you bring up John Proctor's "name" and I agree that is is what made him reluctant to talk about his affair with Abigail. However I also think it helped influence his decision of taking back his confession to witchcraft.
ReplyDeleteYour perspective on Elizabeth and John's conversation is very interesting. I agree with what you said about how John needs to forgive himself.
ReplyDelete