Preview

"God Is Dead" John Proctor the Crucible

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
946 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
"God Is Dead" John Proctor the Crucible
At the end of the third act, John Proctor claims “God is dead!” – I’m going to explain why he says that and how the phrase relates with the events of that time. What I’m going to write is my very personal opinion. It does not necessarily has to be the same as yours.

In order to understand why Proctor says this with so much fury, it is needed to make a background.
It was in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. They were puritans with a theocracy society, with strong, strict believes and rules, which shows the underdevelopment in religion in that period.
Reverend Parris, a minister in Salem, seemed to be worried only about his own status than the town. John Proctor didn’t like him. He used to think he was a corrupted man.
John, being the principal character of the play, evidently shows a dislike not just for Reverend Parris, but for the whole puritan way of living. This system censored and prevented people to act and think freely as individuals. They were always under the threat of “God’s willing” which really was the willing of those men who had the most power.

Proctor lived in the outskirts of the town. He was a laborious and courteous man. He was good in acting and thinking. But he hasn’t have peace from the moment he committed adultery with Abigail. His soul seems frustrated. And the fact that his wife, Elizabeth, after months the incident has happened, barely talks and accepts him, makes him feel even worse.
He’s been absent from the town and the church… Maybe because of the land working, or the disliking of Reverend Parris preaching, or, in the most of the correct cases, to restore his soul peace. All this may have influenced Proctor’s daring phrase.

When a group of ladies, led by Abigail Williams, start accusing people of witchcraft, the entire town burst into craziness.
Back in the day, witches were believed to exist. And it was an unconceivable sin to conjure with the devil or evil spirits.
These girls led something, which was first just pure fun

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    John Proctor is one of major characters in the Crucible. At the beginning of the play, he was introduced as a husband of Elizabeth and consider to have somekind of secret relation with Abigal, Reverend Parris's neice. He is a farmer. His family is not too wealthy, but it's consider to some kind of needed. He is a patriarchal man. He was regreting of cheating on his wife cause it again God, however he just woulden't admit that he cheat on her. and a man that is full of…

    • 90 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    For many reasons, John Proctor is an honest man. By no means is Proctor afraid to tell what is on his mind. In the beginning John truthfully tells Parris why he has not be at church recently, "I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because hardly ever mention God any more." John realizes that he must confess his sin of…

    • 763 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Reverend Parris is known throughout the whole story to cause hysteria with the witch trials. He took Abigail's side in claiming a large majority of the townspeople are witches. He had the motive of keeping his materialistic personality under the radar, by doing that he is saving the little reputation he has and more importantly keeping him the job in which he acquires all of his money. Thomas Putnam had a bigger motive for starting these witch trials. Thomas Putnam helped spread the witch trials because he was bitter towards the Nurses and he wanted more land for himself.…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    his sin. Confessing this could destroy his good reputation, and Proctor being a proud man,…

    • 612 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mr. Proctor was a protagonist behind the reason number one which was he learns to forgive himself. At the beginning of the play we learn that he had an affair with Abigail Williams, which was…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First of all, John Proctor wants his name to be good and have a good reputation, but he ruins his life based on his public reputation. For example, Hale said " Good, then. In…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Proctor appears to be an authentic, honorable, and candid man. In act one, Proctor exuberates love for authority and exercises his power to the best of his ability. Readers see through Proctor’s witty persona and analyze his fatal sin that fills him with guilt, his affair with Abigail Williams. In the midst of the play, John Proctor undergoes a plethora of self-torment and guilt. Meanwhile, the witch trials continue to be investigated. Only John can free innocent men and women tried for practicing witchcraft, but in the process will ruin his reputation. Proctor later confesses to his act of lechery and rests in the gallows with his neighbors. By doing so, John is perceived as a…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Proctor's Death

    • 1298 Words
    • 6 Pages

    I do not believe that John Proctor’s death is a fair result for his actions before and throughout t the play. Overall he is a good man, with good intentions and has no interest in hurting anyone or anything he is well respected and even feared in Salem. He is also a hard working man, he works day until night on his farm because he cares for his family, and he also works hard to prove his wife and his friends innocent of witchcraft. John is also a devoted person; he sticks to what he does and devotes himself to stop the hangings of his wife and all the innocent people that are accused.…

    • 1298 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    as his beliefs. This paper will discuss Proctor's change in character and his struggle with getting to…

    • 1926 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The town had already been through three other reverends, who had all left because of financial issues, but Parris needed to get away from Boston, so he accepted the position. The Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts began as a simple misunderstanding creating a domino effect that overtook the entire community, allowing chaos to ensue, and lives to be lost. The persecution of the men and women of Salem was encouraged by Samuel Parris. His sermons began to develop a dark tone because he was not getting his way and thought that he would scare his congregation into doing as they were instructed. Even after consulting with many doctors, and five other reverends from surrounding communities, he still sought out another opinion, any other opinion that could explain what his daughter was experiencing.…

    • 2062 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the middle of the play when John gets everyone to sign the petition for his and a few others’ wives to be released, Reverend Parris fights against it. He tries to discredit John before he can even defend his wife. He says, “Beware this man, Your Excellency, this man is mischief.” He cannot bear the thought of possibly someone finding out his niece, her friends, and himself are all frauds and have been lying through the entire duration of the trial. He continuously tries to discredit his testimonies by pointing out, “Such a Christian that will not come to church but once in a month.” To not show up to church was a great offense, and you were seen as a lesser christian or less of a person for not showing up for it. For Parris to bring this up in the middle of church, it really threw a wrench is the Judge's ability to believe his testimony of being honest. Parris knew that he had to discredit John in order to keep the truth and his reputation…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the 1953 play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the main protagonist, John Proctor allows the audience to create an emotion of sympathy towards him. In the play John Proctor is the husband of Elizabeth Proctor, he is a farmer, and a father of three boys. He was also accused of witchcraft like many individuals who lived in the town of Salem. Proctor did not attend church, because of Reverend Parris. Parris is the minister of Salem, who preaches about wealth, “…and for twenty week he preach nothin’ but golden candlesticks until he had them”. (Act Two, pg. 69) John had no importance for wealth, but rather of God, it was one of the reasons he stopped attending church. The other was to avoid Abigail Williams. John committed adultery with Abigail,…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reverend Parris is the reason the trials occurred in the first place. One night he saw that his niece, Abigail Williams and all of the other girls were dancing, and singing in the forest he became very angry at them. When he asked them the next day what happened none of the children wanted to be whipped, so they made up stories that they were bewitched. As, the problem escalated he wanted to protect his own name so he went along with the hysteria of the town.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Crucible Forgiveness

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages

    PROCTOR: No more! I should have roared you down when first you told me your suspicion. But I wilted, and, like a Christian, I confessed. Confessed! Some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day. But you're not, you're not, and let you remember it! Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Samuel Parris and John Hale are the two ministers in The Crucible and were initially alike in their attitudes towards witchcraft. However, their personalities show some striking dissimilarities. Unlike Hale, Reverend Parris is characterized by extreme paranoia and egotism. He is very static- his traits and motives remain consistent from the beginning to the end of the play. Although a religious man and believer in witchcraft like Parris, Hale values human life and is motivated by personal beliefs and his sense of morality, disregarding his best interests. He is a very dynamic character, becoming progressively less confident and trusting of law and doctrine as his faith is tested throughout the ordeal.…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays