John Proctor: Hero or Stooge

To be honest, John Proctor has been depicted in many different ways through out The Crucible. In my opinion, I would not categorize John Proctor as a hero or stooge, but more in between those. He is one of the main characters in the play whose role instantly changes. What makes John Proctor a stooge is for him not being as honest to himself or to others. As they say, honest is the best policy. However, it seems like people in Salem have a hard time determining what is the actual truth in the witch trials. This all started in the beginning of Act II as it shows the poor relationship the Proctor has towards his wife Elizabeth. If Proctor was more honest towards his wife, then she wouldn't have as much trust issues  as it does. The main reason for why John Proctor is going to court is to save his own wife and not anybody else. If Elizabeth was not being accused as a witch, then perhaps he wouldn't have bother to go to Salem or would input as little opinion as possible to the people who are being claimed to be witches. Then again, this whole problem revolves about him having an affair with Abigail. If he went right away and told the truth about why Abigail was being a complete liar and pointing a finger at innocent people then perhaps not as many people would have been hung for being witches.

Now, the only time I saw John Proctor as a hero was after he came into the court to save his wife. He did end up revealing his affair to the court to only then to be dismissed aimlessly by the judge. Yet he was quite persistent and reasonable person when it came to the truth. He tries to help Giles in proving that Putnam is accusing people of being witches for him to be able to get more land. Proctor also makes Mary Warren declare her deposition in not seeing satan at all. That all the antics the girls created was just for them not to get in trouble. Even when Abigail starts screaming about Mary Warren sending her spirit, Proctor keeps repeating that Mary is doing no such thing and are only acting. The scene that captivates the proctor as being a major hero is towards the end of the play. Proctor has been given a chance to testify that he is with God and that he has seen the devil. In doing so, he will not be hung for being a witch, that is until he is forced to sign a paper to prove of what he testified. Proctor of course refused to let this paper be seen by everybody and blacken more of his name then it already is. In a way Proctor died with dignity and did not betray the other people who are convicted of being witches and refuse to confess.