John Proctor has a strong characteristic of a good man, he is strong willed, strong hearted and not ‘fools’ as many puritans in Salem, where they believe that devil had come to get them. John is also a religious man, but he never lets himself to believe in superstition, he is a good man that keeps his words and care for his beloved family and follow what god has told him to do.
Arthur Miller set him up to be a hero in the prose section where we are first introduced to him, he is portrayed as a good strong man helping his family and keeping his word for god, he does not follow the church, but he doesn’t go against them either.
Proctor is deeply moral man, but has betrayed himself and his family.
He has kept his own self-image well in front of many people, but he knew that he has betrayed his family and god by committing adultery with Abigail, and Abigail knows his weakness and tries to get him back to her trap.
John Proctor still is devoted to his family, but his relationship with his wife seem to break apart, the conversation with each other at the dinner table tells us that their relationship is weak, this clearly shows when John says to Elizabeth “that he was alone with Abigail” and Elizabeth starts to suspect him of being alone with Abigail, but she keeps her point in and tries to catch him in another way. Also at the end of the conversation John Proctor says to Elizabeth that she “Forgets nothing and forgives nothing, also that she is the type of woman that could “freeze beer”.
Although this is true, John Proctor makes up for her towards the end of the play. Throughout the play his wife appears to be devoted to him, as she shows that Abigail is to blame for John’s mistakes. Elizabeth seems to suspect John of having her affair with Abigail when he was alone with her, and John doesn’t like the way he behaves and asks Elizabeth to “see good” on him.
One could argue that Proctor is simply a product of his time.
He thinks of God like everything other religious person would, that he is the creator of all things and that he will punish people who go against his will, but he is not as superstitious as the church because they use the word of god to destroy the society using “the invisible crime” of witchery.
John Proctor can’t be accused of sexism because during the twentieth century discrimination against women was not told me as sexist as it is now, women are expected to do the housework and men are meant to go to work, and it has been like this for a long time, and it still is in a few Asian countries.
He is considered to be iconoclast to many people because his actions reflects many people in the generation to come, but not necessarily, Christian extremists might think that he was plotting to disgrace to church and the court of Salem, as many people in the court does.
John Proctor has a chance to live if he agrees that he had been doing the work of a devil in front of the public. However Elizabeth trusts John proctor to be a good man and let him decide to himself, she also tells him that whatever he decides to do, it will be the best for everyone.
I think John Proctor is a hero and an asset to many people, he made sure that his sons does not carry the name of the liar in the future, and he also stuck up for his good friends and the innocent people who were accused of witchcraft, and he knew that the world will know the truth sooner. In addition he also lived up to his religion where he did exactly what he was meant to do – not lie, although the peace in the Salem town seem exist because of lies.