Motif
Tracking: The Crucible – Heroism
Summary:
When examining the motif of heroism
in Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’, it is important to consider that any
‘heroes’ will not be heroic in the tragic Greek sense, but are more likely to
accord with Miller’s own, more modern, definition of a hero. In Arthur Miller’s
essay ‘Tragedy and the Common Man’, he describes a hero as an “individual
attempting to gain his "rightful" position in his society”. Thus, a
hero need not be a person of nobility or even necessarily a man (as according
to Aristotle’s definition). Therefore, though numerous character’s are ‘heroic’
in their own right in The Crucible, it seems obvious to me that John Proctor,
Reverend Hale, and Mary Warren are the ‘most’ heroic.
John Proctor
Proctor is clearly the protagonist
of the text. He is introduced as a “sinner” (p27), and his anguish at this
demonstrates his own strong moral code. He does not conform to the social order
and instead is judged only by the “magistrate that sits in [his] heart” (p55).
His rules however, are higher than those imposed by the society of the time,
and the fact that he strives to achieve these, to be punished according to
these, is what makes him heroic.
|
Page |
Quotation |
Analysis |
|
55 |
|
These two quotations from
Proctor’s wife show that no man but Proctor may judge himself. This is
important in establishing Proctor as a hero because it emphasizes the fact
that he abides only by what he considers to be ‘right’, and will not be
swayed by another. |
|
120 |
|
|
|
97 |
PROCTOR [trembling, his life
collapsing about him]: I have known her, sir. I have known her |
Proctor confesses to lechery with
Abigail in front of the court, surely condemning himself to not only
punishment by the court, but also sacrificing his ‘good name’. Proctor’s
willingness to destroy himself for what he believes in, to throw himself
against the court in order to save his wife and the others who are to hang
and most importantly, the sense that he feels he deserves any punishment
directed against him again shows him as the hero. |
|
105 |
PROCTOR: You are pulling Heaven down
and raising up a whore! |
Proctor’s ability to see the truth
when all those around him are blind to it allows us to see how clearly he
views these proceedings, and further emphasizes how crazy the people of |
|
124 |
PROCTOR [with a cry of his soul]:
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 common reading of Proctor’s
unwillingness to give up his name suggests that he still retains some scrap
of decency, as he cannot bear the thought of his name being tarnished.
However, the fact that he believes that he has given up his ‘soul’ suggests
that he knows that by signing the confession he has already forgone any
claims to begin a good man and that thus his need of his name in order to
continue living is an almost practical requirement, it will allow him to
continue the pretence of being John Proctor even though he has given up
everything that he most cherishes about himself – his soul, in this case his
sense of personal integrity. Ultimately Proctor’s inability to accept a life
as just a name without a soul is what convinces him that he is a good man and
thus good enough to die along with the martyrs Rebecca Nurse and Martha
Corey. |
Reverend Hale
Hale, although not a ‘hero’ at
first, certainly undergoes a clear change of heart as the play progresses. This
change in his position regarding the validity Salem trials is an impressive
feat as it requires the rejection of some deeply held beliefs and, in
particular, the status he has enjoyed as a ‘witch hunter’ in this society. None
of the other characters associated with the court would forego their status in
such a manner, indeed Parris and Putnam are seen desperately using the witch
hunts to defend their position of power or increase their influence and so,
although he is clearly not ‘heroic’ in the same way as Proctor (i.e. dying for
his cause and dashing himself against an opponent he cannot defeat), Hale
displays some of the characteristics of a hero, and in fact a hero acts as a
role model for the America in the 1950s as he realises the absurdity of the situation
he has found himself in, a realisation that Miller wants the average American
himself to make.
|
Page |
Character/Quotation |
Analysis |
|
48 |
HALE [with rising exaltation]: You
are God’s instrument put in our hands to discover the Devil’s agents among
us. |
Through these quotations we can
clearly see the change that Hale undergoes through the course of the play.
From the start where he is ‘exalted’ to be doing God’s work, to him going to
meet Proctor without the court’s approval, to him finally realizing the
fictitious nature of these trials, to him turning his back on them and
denouncing them. Hale’s ability to go against his original ideals when he
realizes what has actually gone on is what makes him heroic. He undergoes a
fundamental change in faith and although he does not stop believing in
witches, he realizes that the |
|
62 |
HALE: No – no, I come of my own,
without the court’s authority. Hear me |
|
|
100 |
HALE: Excellency, it is a natural
lie to tell; I beg you, stop now before another is condemned! I may shut my
conscience to it no more – private vengeance is working through this
testimony! |
|
|
105 |
HALE: I denounce these
proceedings, I quit this court! |
|
|
114 |
HALE: …There is blood on my head!
Can you not see the blood on my head!! |
Mary Warren
Mary is probably the least heroic of
the three characters, however her initial bravery in standing up against the court
with which she had colluded for so long affords her some heroic status. The
fact that she actually stumbles again and returns to the side of the court does
detract from this but her eventual failure actually serves to reemphasise how
difficult it is to resist Abigail’s influence and the influence of figures of
authority such as Danforth. In which case, her willingness to challenge the
court even for a brief time could be considered heroic.
|
Page |
Quotation |
Analysis |
|
26 |
ABIGAIL: Now look you. All of you.
We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And that is all.
And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word… |
Mary Warren is clearly frightened
into going along with Abigail’s lies and the court for the duration of the
play. She is described as [… a subservient, naïve, lonely girl] in her first
stage directions, thus supporting her obeying Abigail. |
|
58 |
MARY WARREN [with greater impatience
with him]: I told you the proof. It’s hard proof, hard as a rock, the judges
said. |
Mary is now upholding the views of
the court, and having bought into the lie she intends to keep up the
pretence. John Proctor now convinces her to testify in court, which she
finally agrees to do. |
|
89 |
PROCTOR: Aye, sir. She swears now
that she never saw Satan; nor any spirit, vague or clear, that Satan may have
sent to hurt her. And she declares her friends are lying now. |
In the court, Proctor takes it upon
himself to talk for Mary Warren, who is understandably frightened. Her
presence alone, and her subsequent confession bespeaks bravery and identifies
her as a minor hero |