Crucible+Essay

John Proctor Guilty of Hubris Hubris is extreme self-pride that one has for his/herself. It is displayed in many books outside of American literature like //The Odyssey// or //The Iliad// where the protagonist, Achilles is to stubborn that he gets killed in battle thinking he will live because he was a half god. Hubris displayed in books like these determine the fate of the protagonist. Although we usually think of the protagonist as someone in a story leading by example, the protagonist can also have a large amount of hubris within them. In John Proctors case, he wants to be known in Salem as someone who leads by the examples of actions but in some of his actions in The Crucible, he is guilty of hubris because he continuously compliments himself at times in the book. For example, he tries hard to make a good appearance of himself in front of Hale when his household is under suspicion of witchcraft, and he refuses to sacrifice his name for his life in the end. When one is viewed in the eyes of others, they are known for what they do by example. John Proctor has been a loved person in the village of Salem basically because he keeps all his positives public. However, when he does things like sleep with an underage girl like Abigail, he will not acknowledge that. In Act 2 pages 66-67, Proctor tries his best to keep his name clean in the court and try to impress Hale with how wise he is on Christianity. In all of Act 2, He then refuses to acknowledge that someone in his household is accused of being a witch and then in Act 4 pages 142-144 when he is seen as someone who has compacted with the Devil, he refuses to sign documents of confession in order to keep his good name. This leads to his death. The first example by which Proctor shows he has Hubris in him is when he tries his hardest to recite the ten commandments so that he may have his image impress others. In this example, it is Reverend Hale who John wants to impress (p67). John fails to do so but is determined to keep the Hubris within him by telling Hale how much he has contributed to the community of Salem and how others like Parris only work to contribute to themselves. This is a clear sign of Hubris within John. In Act 4 pages 142-144, John Proctor is forced to confess his name on paper if he doesn’t want to be hung. He debates in his mind whether to confess himself by sacrificing his name or not to confess which would sacrifice his life for his name. His hubris gets the best of him and his conscience tells him not to hand over the documents that he signed. For John, it was all for his name. His reason to Danforth was, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” The quote also shows John Proctor values the positives in himself more than his own life. Thus the hubris within him was what got him killed. Throughout the book, the reader knows that John Proctor was a good man in Salem to all of its inhabitants. A person with a good name like John has shown to others by example. However, his affair with Abigail was what led to his downfall when he had to expose the dark side of himself just to expose Abigail. This confession was not the only thing that has led to his demise, but his load of pride and fear of public opinion led this tragic hero to his death.