He had a chance to tell the town, and the court, that Abigail’s claims were false. Nevertheless, Proctor did not open his mouth. He feared that revealing the truth would put him down on the social ladder; innocent people had to pay, for his flaw, with their life. Proctor was a proud man who values his good name. He would do anything to keep his name.
John also detests vanity and greed. He completely stopped going to church because Parris would “…preach nothin’ but golden candlesticks until he had them.” he said “…it hurt my prayer, sir…” to “…see my money glaring at his elbows.” John Proctor’s motivation in the play was to save his wife from being accused as a witch in court. At the end of Act II, his wife is taken by Danforth because she was accused by Abigail of practicing voodoo, and attempted
Throughout much of the play, he kept that secret very deep inside of him and never talked about it with anyone. He felt horrible for doing it, and wished he could have undone his actions as they were very wrong and also against the laws of the town. One last good thing about Proctor was that he was an honest man. Towards the end of the witch trials, he publicly confessed his adulterated past about Abigail. Everything he told the court was of true nature and he did not intend to hide anything more.
He seemed almost ambivalent to the continuation of his life but instead was concerned with the wisdom of his actions during his life. “You are wrong, sir, if you think that a man who is any good at all should take into account the risk of life or death; he should look to this only in his actions, whether what he does is right or wrong (Apology 28b).” Socrates believes that it is a disgrace to back down in the face of danger when he has done the right thing. This is especially true for Socrates because of the charges against him. He refutes all of them and shows that he does believe in the state Gods, that he does not charge a fee for teaching, and that if he pollutes the minds of young people it is of there own free will. His strongest argument is that if he did do wrong he did so unknowingly and therefore should not be punished.
What is most common with the characters in Year Of Wonders, is the though a lot of them do things to make them admirable, they also have a flaw or two, that then mixes the readers feeling about the character, this is applicable in the case of Michael Mompellion. Throughout the novel Michael Mompellion, the village rector, has done all he can to help others in the terms of the plague. Though it was his suggestion and leadership to quarantine the plague in the village, most villagers would find this request, though a blessing on others outside of the village, a death wish for anyone inside the village. He promises the villagers to be by their bedside at their deaths and that he can get outside provisions sent in to keep the village alive. You have to note that he does keep to his promise, while that causes him to become tired and weak himself.
Unfortunately, because of his cowardly presence, nobody “showed him (any) sympathy” (71). Mathu has just about the opposite reputation in the area. The people respect him like they “don’t respect too many (other) men”(178). No matter what color the person is, black or white, they look up to Mathu. This is mostly because he has “always stood up” to anyone and for anything he believes in.
He was not part of the sin, but still suffered from it. His incredible knowledge of healing, a value to the entire town, was ruined by the quest for revenge upon Reverend Dimmesdale. All four of these lives were ruined, all because of one small sin committed by two people. A merciful, forgiving, benevolent god would never let that happen. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale was a young minister, who was greatly loved by the Puritan community.
I should be damned for persuading men to lie. And Goody Nurse, ohh bless such a good soul. I could not bear to see such a pure person be hanged. I pleaded to Hathorne that if this Rebecca Nurse is tainted, then nothing’s left to stop the whole green world from burning. But he had been deceived by such act.
Saying that a person is either good or evil is like saying that a person has no thoughts at all. You cannot base a person as basically good or evil because we as people have both good and evil thoughts constantly. For example, we all love the people close to us and we wish them only the best, but at the same time, to those that have wronged us, we damn to hell. We as people have all thought about stealing something or hurting someone, which would be considered evil or wrong, but we also think about giving to others and helping ourselves achieve the most out of life, which is considered good. Chaucer saw this in people and knew that a person couldn’t be classified as good or evil because we are a mixture of both.
Although his wife, Elizabeth Proctor is nice enough that can forgive his sin, John Proctor has his mind set that he will not confess to anyone else, in fear of running his good name. The affair between John and Abigail causes the start of chaotic witchery and accusation. Abigail became very jealous of Elizabeth Proctor. John realizes there is only way to stop all the witch hysteria in Salem, and that would be to confess adultery. He knows what he should do, but he continues to deny, until his wife is put into jail.