The Crucible 98-113

Stephen Simmons
AP English 11/ Mr. George
12/10/09
The Crucible

"A man will not cast away his good name"(110).

This is what I love about Proctor. Despite all of the evil events that have happened to Proctor thus far, he still acts like nothing is going on. Proctor is the type of man to follow through with his beliefs until the point of death. Although there is a lack of religious practice in his life, Proctor can be associated with Jesus or historical martyrs. Proctor knows that his wife and other's wives are innocent, and he has taken it into his responsibility to dispel all accusations against them. When God's icy wind blows, Proctor stands his ground, and is beginning to slowly lose feeling in his body. Being significantly more intelligent than other people in society, he knows how his story is going to end, as well as his wife's. This reminds me of sports games, where one team might be losing by a lot, and although they are being destroyed, they still put all of their energy in the game, to leave with a bang and be remembered as fighters, and not spectators. The end is obviously near for Proctor.

"Mr. Parris, I bid you be silent!"(101).

Finally someone told Parris to shut up. There is not one character in the novel thus far, who has pointed more fingers and accused more people of conspiring with the devil than Parris. Ironically, the head of the court is the one who ordered him to silence himself. In Salem, the church and court are of the highest authority, and resemble a similar figure of who we know today to be the President. Although both institutions hold much power, Danforth and the court still desire more power than what is necessary. Danforth still desires to be the person with the most input on everything. Earlier in the novel he was speaking about the absence of religion and how it would be fearful if religion was expelled. Now he is the one dispelling religion and punishing those who do not practice it.