The Crucible - Is John Proctor truly a tragic hero?

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THE CRUCIBLE           “BECAUSE IT IS MY NAME! BECAUSE I CAN NEVER HAVE ANOTHER IN MY LIFE! . . . HOW MAY I LIVE WITHOUT MY NAME? I HAVE GIVEN YOU MY SOUL; LEAVE ME MY NAME! WITH THESE WORDS, JOHN PROCTOR DAMNS HIMSELF TO A DEATH BY HANGING AND THEREBY COMPLETES THE CIRCLE THAT BEGAN WHEN HE KNOWINGLY TOOK ABIGAIL WILLIAMS IN THE HAY IN THE BARN. JOHN PROCTOR HAS ALL OF THE MAKINGS OF A TRAGIC HERO, RIGHT DOWN TO HIS STUBBORN PRIDE. BUT IS JOHN TRULY A TRAGIC HERO? THERE IS AN INTERESTING SENSE THAT COMES FROM A READING OF THE CRUCIBLE. WE CAN SEE THAT ARTHUR MILLER HAD MULTIPLE PURPOSES IN WRITING THE PLAY. TRUE THERE WAS THE ISSUE OF SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY AND THE BETTER DEAD THAN RED CAMPAIGN OF THE 1950’S THAT SAW SO MUCH HURT AND FEAR IN AMERICA, ESPECIALLY IN ENTERTAINMENT CIRCLES -- THOSE CIRCLES THAT MILLER HIMSELF MOVED IN. YES, HE USED THE WITCH TRIALS OF 1619 SALEM AS THE VEHICLE TO SHOW THAT AMERICA HAD NOT COME FAR FROM THAT HYSTERIA WHICH THREATENED THE YOUNG COLONY. THAT SAME HYSTERIA WAS THERE WHEN MCCARTHY CALLED HIS FIRST WITNESS AND TRIED TO SHOW THAT A COMMUNIST LURKED IN EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY IN AMERICA -- IN GOVERNMENT, INDUSTRY, FINANCE AND ENTERTAINMENT. IT WAS NOT ENOUGH TO REFUSE TO ACCEPT COMMUNISM YOURSELF, MCCARTHY DID NOT EVEN WANT YOU PERIPHERALLY RUBBING SHOULDERS WITH COMMUNISTS. IF YOU EVEN SPOKE TOA RED, YOU WERE ANTI-AMERICAN. IN CRUCIBLE, MILLER IRONICALLY TAKES A PURITAN SOCIETY IN THE CLUTCHES OF WHAT JOHN PROCTOR SAYS IN ACT 3 IS A FRAUDULENT WHORE THAT HE HAD THE MISFORTUNE OF COPULATING WITH IN THE BARN. BUT BOTH PROCTOR AND AMERICA WERE VICTIMS OF A REPRESSIVE AUTHORITARIANISM DESTROYING ORDER AND USING ITS OWN POWER TO ASSERT ITS VALUES. PROCTOR DESTROYS HIMSELF TO PRESERVE HIS SHATTERED INTEGRITY. CRUCIBLE IS NOT A HISTORY PLAY IN THE SENSE THAT HISTORY IS ACCURATELY PRESENTED IN THE STORY. MILLER NEEDED TO STRETCH THINGS A BIT IN ORDER TO EMPHASISE HIS MAIN POINTS. WE HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF DIFFICULTY RECONCILING THE ABIGAIL OF THE PLAY WITH THE REAL 11-14 YEAR OLD CHILD THAT WAS ACTUAL. THERE IS A VAMPIRIC QUALITY TO ABBY THAT BELIES HER AGE. CONSIDER: NOW LOOK YOU. ALL OF YOU. WE DANCED AND TITUBA CONJURED RUTH’S DEAD SISTERS. AND THAT IS ALL. AND MARK THIS. LET EITHER OF YOU BREATHE A WORD . . . AND I WILL COME TO YOU IN THE BLACK OF SOME TERRIBLE NIGHT AND I WILL BRING A POINTY RECKONING THAT WILL SHUDDER
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YOU. AND YOU KNOW I CAN DO IT; I SAW INDIANS SMASH MY DEAR PARENTS’ HEADS ON THE PILLOW NEXT TO MINE, AND I HAVE SEEN SOME REDDISH WORK DONE AT NIGHT, AND I CAN MAKE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER SEEN THE SUN GO DOWN! THESE ARE NOT THE WORDS OF A CHILD, BUT THE CALLOUS WORDS OF SOMEONE WHO HAS HAD A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE OF THE WORLD. AND TRULY COULD WE BELIEVE THAT ABIGAIL COULD ENGINEER THE WHOLE HYSTERIA AS ONLY AN ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD? MILLER ALSO REALISES THAT MODERN SOCIETY WOULD BLANCH AT THE IDEA OF A GROWN ...

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