In spite of his sins, John Proctor is a proud man who cares about preserving his reputation and self image. After ripping up his confession to being a witch, Proctor exclaims “ How may I live without my name! I have given you my soul; leave me my name.” Proctor cannot bear to live the rest of his life as a lie, as it would ruin his opinion of himself as a good person. Also, the judge threatens to hang John’s confession on the door of the church, which John does not want as it would diminish his reputation as a well respected man in the community. Many of John’s actions are motivated by his pride.
John Proctor is also a man with a great internal conflict: his guilty conscience. Although he was a good man, he could not forgive himself for his sins. In an argument with his wife Elizabeth, John retorts “ I see now your spirit twists around the single error of my life [ adultery], and I will never tear it free!” In this quote, John is accusing Elizabeth of not being able to forgive him, but in actuality, he cannot forgive himself. Throughout the story, he struggles to come to terms with what he …show more content…
When he is in court, testifying against Abigail for , he states “ 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 it is a whore’s vengeance.” By stating this, John admits to his affair, showing his honesty. Through his openness, he is able to argue that Abigail is not a child, so she could very well could have lied to seek vengeance, showing he will seek justice for those accused. Also, since John confessed to all of this to save his wife, whom Abigail accused, he shows he is loyal. Lechery was a hanging offence, so it was very courageous for John to be so loyal to risk death to possibly save his wife. Proctor’s honesty and loyalty make him the protagonist of the