Crucible Essay--Proctor

Scott Pero
AP English Language/ Mr. George
January 3, 2010
Describe John Proctor’s Redemption

The Labors of John Proctor

In Greek mythology, there existed a hero who shone brighter than the rest—the mighty Heracles. The product of a forbidden love between the almighty Zeus, Lord of the Sky and a mortal woman, Heracles was renowned for his unparalleled god-like strength. Tales of his feats have withstood the test of time. Heracles was the paramount of heroism; no other hero can ever compare to him. While Heracles was half immortal, he was also half mortal. Like all mortals, he was anything but perfect. Heracles was tricked by the goddess Hera, the jealous and spurned wife of Zeus, into murdering his wife and children. Utterly devastated, Heracles sought redemption in any way he could. Finally he found it when he was charged with ten labors by his enemy, king Eurystheus. If Heracles completed all of the tasks he was charged with, he would be absolved of his sin and granted immortality with the gods. Heracles succeeded, and even completed two extra labors, effectively redeeming himself. A literary counterpart to Heracles is John Proctor, one of the main characters of The Crucible. The Crucible was a play written by Arthur Miller about the Salem witch hunts of the 1600s. Proctor committed adultery with Abigail Williams, a servant in his house. Ever since then, he thirsts for redemption and is continually unable to quench his desire. John Proctor sought redemption in a society where there was none; he tried to appeal to his wife and the court of Salem to no avail, finally attaining salvation with God.

The township of Salem in the 1600s had no ritual of washing away sin. Initially, this is why Proctor had so much trouble. Society offered no course of action to take away the sins of an individual; their solution was simply to abstain from sin. As Arthur Miller writes, the witch hunt was the only way the townspeople could do anything about their sin: "The witch-hunt was not, however, a mere repression. It was also, and as importantly, a long overdue opportunity for everyone so inclined to express publicly his guilt and sins, under the cover of accusations against the victims" (Miller 7). The only way for people to receive any consolation from their sins was to partake in the witch hunt, blaming their sins on another. It was the only way to free themselves from the spiritual burden of sin. Proctor had no outlet to confess his sins, and could not be redeemed at first.

There was also a problem with Proctor’s pride that kept him from his redemption. Proctor is self-centered in the beginning of the story; he does not realize what his confession is capable of doing. Proctor sets out only wishing to free himself of sin and no one else: "I have made a bell of my honor! I have rung the doom of my good name—you will believe me, Mr. Danforth!" (111). Proctor is doing this all for himself, so that sin may be washed away from him alone. It has tormented him ever since he committed the heinous act, and his confession is his reprieve from the guilt he has suffered. In the beginning, he tries to seek absolution from the source—his wife.
Proctor appeals to Elizabeth first. He committed a sin against his wife by sleeping with another woman. It makes sense to seek forgiveness from the person you forsook in the first place. Proctor confessed his sins to his wife, only to find that he could not be redeemed for them: "I wilted, and, like a Christian, I confessed...Some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day. But you're not...and let you remember it! Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not" (55). Proctor could not redeem himself by confessing to Elizabeth because she is only human. She cannot wash away his sins becase she does not have the immortal power to do so. Even if Proctor did wrong by Elizabeth, she can not forgive him in the way he desires. He needs the weight of his wrongdoings lifted from him, and no human has the power to do that. Still, though, Proctor seeks new refuge in the court of Salem.

Proctor goes next to the court to redeem himself. Abigail, the very girl with whom he committed adultery, controls the court as a puppeteer controls a puppet on string; she has lulled them into believing in witchcraft and that witches terrorize Salem. Because of this, countless innocents have already suffered by her word. They have been accused of withcraft and either arrested or hanged. Proctor sets out to stop her, and, if need be, reveal his sin publicly. He does just that, but receives no consolation from the court. Instead, he is swept into the witch trials and accused of witchery. When Proctor is ordered to confess to witchery to avoid the hangman’s noose, he realizes how useful the court has been: "I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is fraud. I am not that man…My honesty is broke, Elizabeth; I am no good man. Nothing’s spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before" (136). By giving the court his confession to witchcraft—an obvious lie—Proctor would avoid hanging, but it would not change anything. The court has already condemned him either way. If he confesses, they will not think him any nobler or any better. His sins will still stain his soul, and the court can not do a thing about it. Now, as Proctor realizes, there is only one other that he can turn to for salvation.

Seeing that both his wife and the court cannot rid him of the horrible guilt inside him, Proctor turns to God for his redemption. Proctor has nowhere else to turn to for help. His wife has not forgiven him, and the court has condemned him. As Proctor sees, God is the only answer: "Then who will judge me?...God in Heaven, what is John Proctor, what is John Proctor?" (138). All earthly outlets have proved useless to Proctor; now, only the ethereal possibilities remain. Proctor recognizes that no human can forgive a stigma on one’s soul. Only God can work such wonders. Proctor turns wholeheartedly to God to redeem himself. This marks his final move toward redemption.

As the story progresses, so does a change in Proctor’s character. The further along in the text, the more Proctor has shifted from self-centeredness to benevolence. At first, he only endeavors to clear his own name, to wipe the sin away from himself, and no one else. By the end of the play, however, Proctor realizes that he is not the only person that matters, as he exemplifies when he is willing to hang rather than lie to save his life: "I can. And there’s your first marvel, that I can. You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs" (144). Proctor is willing to die for other people. Many others had already hanged because of the witch-hunt. Proctor understands that confessing to witchcraft just so that he may live would dishonor all those that died before him. If he lived, they would have died in vain. Proctor chose to hang so that their deaths would mean something. He no longer cared only about himself; this was the final step in redeeming himself and how, ultimately, he find retribution. One cannot be redeemed if they focus too much inward. In most cases, that is what made them fall into sin in the first place.

Christianity is embodied in John Proctor and his beliefs. He symbolizes everything that Christianity stands for. The theocracy established in The Crucible represents the beliefs of an ancient past time in the Church. Proctor vehemently disagrees with their old world beliefs. For example, Proctor believes, unlike most of Salem, that it should not matter where you pray, merely that you do. Proctor tried to attend church, but when he did not, he still prayed. This is exactly what Christianity would mandate as well. Another instance where Proctor conflicts with the theocracy of Salem is when he refuses to give the court a written confession of witchcraft to be made public: "I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!" (142). Christianity teaches us that God knows when a sinner is sorry, and that he even rejoices when he repents and wants to be redeemed. It does not say that the sinner’s confession must be flaunted throughout the public. Proctor fights ardently for this belief, as he will not give up his confession if the court is going to make it public. Proctor also knows that only God can truly forgive the sins of another, and that He will be the final judge of all. Proctor personifies the Christian faith because he fiercely defends its beliefs as his own.

John Proctor underwent a harsh and difficult process to finally redeem himself. He needed a way to absolve his sins when his society would not offer one. He could not find forgiveness in his wife, the very woman he scorned. The court did not purify him; they merely tried to use him as an example to the rest of the town. Proctor recognized that no human can truly wash away a sin, and turned to God for absolution. Proctor shifted from focusing on himself to focusing on others, a feat many would find Herculean. Like Heracles, Proctor was ultimately redeemed upon the completion of his valiant endeavors. Their gods exonerated them from the shackling burdens of their sins and venerated them in their redemption.