Does John Proctor Deserve To Die

The irresponsible actions of John Proctor lead to great consequences that a lot of people end up
paying for. Whether they are serious enough for him to be put to death for, is debatable as his
actions are taken without the intention to harm anyone. To further investigate how his actions
affected the lives of others, we shall have to examine each one as the story progresses.
The first time we met John Procter, we instantly see that he has an extremely cold marriage. There is
no sign of affection shown between John and his wife, leading to the result of an affair with Abigail
Williams. Had he been more appreciative of his wife and treated her with tenderness, the marriage
might have been happier, and the affair might never have taken place.
John has led Abigail to believe that he loved her. This begins a hateful vendetta against Elizabeth and
the beginning of the witch trials. John’s adultery is the catalyst in the trials. His refusal to admit the
affair is because he wants to keep his reputation clean.
He never took responsibility for the affair and he never saw what consequences it had. He still
expected his wife, after finding out of the affair, to be loving towards him. In a sense, he blames
Elizabeth for the affair because she had not been a loving wife. In this way, John shows us that he
shirks responsibility and lacks the ability to own his mistakes.
Abigail Williams admits to John Proctor that there was no witchcraft involved. “We were dancing in
the woods last night and my uncle leaped in on us” but John did not take the trials seriously and
expected no consequences regarding this. He chooses to remain silent about Abigail’s confession to
him and as a result, the trials continue and eventually get out of hand, resulting in the deaths of
many innocent people. At this point, he is more concerned about preserving his own reputation and
hiding his affair than he is about helping others. He does not display honesty and only takes action
when it is too late. It was John Proctor’s moral obligation to do something not only because of the
knowledge of Abigail’s lies but because of the result of innocent people dying.
Religion played a major role in the town. When the church was investigating people, John Proctor
took a risk and put his family at risk by not going to church, knowing the punishment for witchcraft
was death and his family would become a point of unwelcome interest to the church. His
stubbornness to attend church and his lack of knowing the ten commandments reveals that John
made no attempt to protect his family from the judgemental eyes of the church leaders. He does not
see the danger in his actions which will later become a serious issue when he tries to defend his wife
and his word alone is not respected by the leaders.
For John Proctor, it was of utmost importance to keep his name clean. He never wanted to take
Abigail to court because the affair would come out and his good name would be ruined. However,
when his wife is accused, he gets other landowners to sign a letter that states how good Elizabeth is.
This is done because the townsfolk truly do hold John in high regard. This shows that he does try to
do what is right.
John also gets his servant to admit to the court that Abigail and the other girls are lying. Here John
shows his attempt to put things right. His efforts to prevent deaths has now balanced out his part in
the blame.
John Proctor had not yet realized how serious the trials were till his own wife was convicted of being
a witch. John wanted to protect his wife and he confessed about the affair with Abigail but his wife
loved him so much that for the first time she a noble Christian “she believe in the caple,everyword”
lied to protect her husband. Proctor's decision to tell the court about his affair ironically
demonstrates his goodness. He willingly sacrifices his good name in order to protect his wife.
John Procter had a chose to live but have his name tarnished or to die with a good reputation and
name. He chose to die with a good name than stay with his family and be happy but with a tarnished
name.
John feels that admitting his affair with Abigail will brand him as an adulterer and will cause him to
lose his most valuable possession which is his good name. He believes that admitting it will intensify
his guilt and he cannot forgive himself for his sin. But his decision to tell the court about his affair
demonstrates his goodness. He willingly sacrifices his good name to save his wife. Once he does this,
he regains his wife’s respect and trust.
John refuses to allow the court to nail his false confession to the church door. He knows this will
damn himself, but he chooses this because he wants to be an example of integrity to his sons. This
shows that he has learnt the value of true integrity and as such has proven himself to be an honest
man, despite his sinful affair.
John was a flawed man and was guilty of adultery and guilty of not telling the truth in the beginning.
However, his actions later on show integrity and an effort to right the wrongs. As such, it is without a
doubt that one has to conclude that he did not deserve to die for his actions .

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The irresponsible actions of John Proctor lead to great consequences that a lot of people end up

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