John Proctor is portrayed throughout Arthur Miller’s The Crucible as a sensible, honest, hardworking man, but throughout the play, he undergoes a very serious change, not only of heart, but also of faith. Proctor’s faith in man is rather small to begin with, but his faith in God is not. He sees the good in mankind, and the power of the Almighty, but also acknowledges that man is corrupt and generally insensible.
Proctor: I’ve heard you to be a sensible man, Mr. Hale. I hope you’ll leave some of it in Salem. (Act 1)
John Proctor’s religious beliefs play very strongly into his decisions as the play progresses. He feels very strongly that the girls have forsaken God and His teachings. Abby especially comes under the gun of John Proctor. He openly announces his affair with her in order to try to bring some semblance of justice to Salem.
Proctor: In the proper place-where my beasts are bedded. Excellency, forgive me, forgive. She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But this is a whore’s vengeance, and you must see it; I set myself entirely in your hands. (Act 3)
John throws himself out on a limb here, exposing his dark past in order to permit justice to be served in Salem.
Proctor: I have rung the doom of my good name-you will believe me, Mr. Danforth! (Act 3)
Later in the play, Proctor realizes that there is no hope for justice and truth in Salem, and he lets himself go. He no longer cares about what he says, he has already tarnished his good name, so he sees no purpose in keeping his mind to himself.
The Essay on Analysis of the Play “A Man For All Seasons”
With the free will presented upon us, comes a great sense of responsibility to use it wisely. The choices we make are ultimately affected by an array of factors, such as religion, morals, upbringing, society, and environment, to name a few. However, the conscious effort to ignore any of these factors in order to make the uniformed choice would be a violation of one's free will and self-respect. In ...
Proctor: I say-I say-God is dead!
Parris:Hear it, hear it!
Proctor: A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud-God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together! (Act 3)
By the end of the play, John Proctor has lost all faith in both humanity and God. God did not come to make right the wrongs being committed in Salem, and humanity failed to see that it was doing wrong. John Proctor remains innocent as the way is made for the guilty to thrive and the innocent to perish.
