John Proctor:”i say- i say- God is dead!” This quote said by John Proctor in the play The Crucible written in the 1950’s. The play is about the people of Salem going through witch trials , which lead to many people getting hanged in the gallows in front of the whole town. If the people who were accused did not confess they would be hanged, but if you confessed you would only be sent to prison. The people who pleaded guilty about witchery mostly lied so they only had to go to prison. The people in salam only showed their true selves when they confessed to the witchery, or when they would not lie to keep themselves alive they would just take the punishment they did not deserve.
In The Crucible Arthur Miller shows that honor and integrity is most shown when more under pressure through his allegory the use of situational irony and the characterization of John Proctor. The first time Miller shows Honor and Integrity is most shown more when under pressure is through allegory. In act, I a group of girls go dancing in the woods with a slave named Tituba. The group of girls were dancing and chanting wishes that they wanted to come true. The girls had been caught by Reverend Parris the local minister. One of the girls into a coma that happened to be Parris’s daughter Betty. When the town filled with rumors about witchcraft people went to get reverend Hale, the expert on witchcraft. Parris thought to question Abigail about what happened in the forest. Abigail talked to some of the other girls into lying.
John Proctor comes to talk to Abigail alone shortly after John came to talk to Abigail about the affair that had happened early on which then Abby had been fired by Elizabeth Johns wife. John shows integrity when he ended the affair. John Proctor: “Abby I never give you hope to wait for me”(pg.23). He knew Abby still desired him and wanted her to know it was never gonna happen again because he knew it was wrong. The next way Miller shows Honor and Integrity is through situational irony. It began when Betty wakes up from her coma and began screaming a crowd rushing up the stairs into her bedroom arguing over if she had been cursed. Reverend Hale arrives to examine Betty he asks Abby what the girl’s behaviors where in the forest. He demanded to talk to Tituba, Parris and Hale beat her until she confessed Tituba said: ”No, no don’t hang Tituba!
I tell him! I don’t desire to work for him, sir.” the way situational irony is shown is because you think Tituba will not confess to something she didn’t do, but she got beaten until she died or confessed to communicating with the devil and she confessed. Tituba confessed she also started to accuse some of the town people of working for the devil Abigail joins her confessing to seeing people consulting with the devil, Betty joins in naming witches the crowd is roaring with surprise. Finally, Miller enhances the theme of Honor and Integrity through characterization. At the end of act III, Proctor is going to confess so he can live. John has to sign a confession that is going to be put up on the church so the town can see it.
He wants to protect his name and wouldn’t want his future kids to get influenced that his father was working with the devil. John says “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life. Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name”(pg150). This quote shows characterization because John is a person who didn’t sign his name to stay alive and live on a lie and have people think different of him he protected his family and got hanged so Elizabeth could live he showed integrity by not lying about something he didn’t do and showed honor by protecting his family. In The Crucible Arthur Miller shows that Honor and Integrity are shown most through the characters when under pressure through his allegory, situational Irony, and characterization.
