What Is the Shred of Goodness John Proctor Finds in Himself in Act Iv Essay Example

is indeed, Proctors journey from guilt to redemption which forms the central spine of The Crucible.

In Act II, we can see the burden that hangs over Proctor. Whilst at the dinner table Proctor says, “I’ll not have your suspicion anymore”. It is the guilt caged inside Proctor which causes him to say this; if he had no guilt he would not have reacted this way. Proctor then later says, “Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not”, all proctor wants is to be seen as ‘good’ in his wife’s eyes, if all is forgiven he can see himself as ‘good’. By being judge the whole time he is constantly reminded of his sins and just how black they are.

The first step for Proctor to regain his self-respect is when he goes to the court armed with three main weapons in order to free his wife, Abigail’s admission to him that there was no witchcraft, Mary Warren’s testimony and finally, Proctor is prepared to admit that he and Abigail had an affair. This would blacken Abigail’s now saintly reputation and discredit her in the eyes of the court. Even though Proctor’s goal of freeing Elizabeth and putting an end to the hysteria is not achieved, he takes significant steps towards regaining his self-respect. The first step being that he does not stop fighting the false accusations even after he finds out that Elizabeth is pregnant and therefore safe for the time being. He feels he owes a greater duty to the community and proceeds. The second step is that he has now just openly admitted his adulterous

lechery; he is no longer a hypocrite. He has publicly embraced his sin.

In Act IV, Elizabeth tells proctor, “Whatever you will do, it is a good man does it”. This is very important. Elizabeth seems to be saying that a man may lie and be ‘good’ – or, on the other hand, a man may refuse to lie and be equally as ‘good’. Proctor is faced with two choices, either to confess and live, or to protect his innocence and die, he knows now that whatever he chooses, Elizabeth will still see him as a good man.

In Act IV, Proctor conquers his final hurdle on his path to redemption. In order to save his life, he has confessed to being in league with the devil. He justifies this lie to himself by say that he is a bad person anyway. After signing his confession, Danforth needs the confession to be nailed upon the church door for all to see, yet Proctor refuses to give it to him, Proctor says, “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be in public? God does not need my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!”.

If Proctor were to have given his confession to Danforth, he would have ultimately sold his soul, though he would have saved his life, his goodness would have been forever out of his reach. The community knows John Proctor as a good man and in this final act is at peace with himself, as he says, “For now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not

enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs”. Proctor knew that his lie would not have been worse than the people he would have given it to.

The journey Proctor takes to regain his self-respect and to find that shred of goodness is a long one, but in the end Proctor is at peace with himself and realises that he is in fact a good man, he may not die as a saint but he is a far better man than those who are hanging him.