John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

This argument is about the main character of the play "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller.

I believe that Proctor, even with all his faults and imperfections, could still be considered the hero of this story. Although his name is brought down by the horrid crime of lechery, Proctor should still be considered a good person.
One example that shows Proctor knows goodness is how he isn't willing to let his own sin's consequences harm another person. When Elizabeth was taken away to Salem after Mary set her up with the supposedly witched poppet, Proctor was adamant that he go to Salem to right this wrong. He knew it was because of his lust for Abigail that led to Abigail wanting to remove Elizabeth so that she could take Elizabeth's place. This just shows how even though Proctor committed sin, he still tried his best to stop it from causing other's pain because of his own fault.
Another reason Proctor is a hero is that he is willing to do something that helps others rather than helps himself. During the convincing of Proctor to confess, he was willing to lie and sin again so that he could have a chance at life. What finally made him to make this decision was the fact that his children and wife needed him. He made the right choice, but unfortunately for him, he was still to be hanged.
These reasons and examples, combined with the fact that he was very aware of the fact that this craze about witchcraft was false and attempted to stop it (which very few people in the town of Salem were brave enough to do), depicts John Proctor as a hero.

There Goes The Neighborhood

In the history of humans, there have been many instances when different groups of people must share the same community. During these times, ideas and cultures and technologies were mixed, but conflict between the two groups was bound to arise.

When Europeans first came in contact with the locals of the New World, indeed the aforementioned items above were exchanged. The Europeans and Native Americans exchanged cattle, iron-working, religions, foodstuffs, diseases, and more. Unfortunately, over time, the differences of the societies became too apparent and rose to violence. European want for land and converts to Christianity, along with just plainly viewing the natives as inferior led to conflict. The new settlers and explorers' superior weaponry combined with their diseases they brought ended up decimating native populations. This would be a perfect example where basically all locals were wiped out resulting from the new arrivals, thus the term "There Goes the Neighborhood" as we would call this scenario today.

Not always would the newcomers clear out those who lived in the so called "Neighborhood" originally inhabiting the region. Such an example would be a situation we today should be very familiar with- when we take our metaphor literally. Since nowadays we live in a quicker paced world, we often see new people moving in and out of our neighborhood, especially in cities. When these people move in, rarely is the case that the rest of the members of the community would be cleared away. In a world where illiteracy is at its rarest and news travels globally, people are more connected than ever. Thus, those newcomers to your neighborhood are sure to have multiple things in common with your other neighbors. These common things create connections that lead to friendship and prevent conflict from arising. 

Of course, there is an incredible amount of examples where two groups of people must come together to inhabit the same area. Of these cases, many of them lead to conflicts, whether large or small, through having different beliefs. And when the conflict gets out of hand and one group must leave, a person living today would say: "There Goes the Neighborhood".

Me

Hello, my name is Kevin, and I am a sophomore attending Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. I moved to Chicago from the suburbs and was once an incoming freshman. Some hobbies I have include reading and playing video games. One club I currently attend is Math Club. One club I wish to attend by the end of this school year is WYMUN. If you have any common characteristics with me, talk to me so that we can relate.