John Proctor, Hero or Stooge?

John Proctor a decent or dishonest man? He's both in a way.  Throughout the story my views of John changed because first he was having an affair with Abagail and then he stayed by his wife when she was charged with witchcraft.  So it's hard to decide what to call him because he seems to match all his bad with good.  So in order to choose what side he belongs, hero or stooge, you have to look at the true message behind the majority of his messages.

The main thing John Proctor proved is that sometimes when you do something wrong, admitting is more powerful than denying because you send a message to all those who are against you.  In John's case it was most of the town minus his wife that saw him to be a sinner, but in his eyes he was cleaning his name and his image by admitting to the charges and paying the price.  Although some saw it as him escaping confession, the truth was he already made his peace with God and was just out to prove a point against the puritan society and how a accusations mean everything.


John Proctors example showed that in a puritan society no matter how much good you good one sin will get you executed.  John wanted to show that he could have lied and gotten out of the mess he put himself into, but instead he would keep his name and image clean by not lying and facing the consequences of his actions.  To me this makes a true hero because he accepted the consequences and didn't try to lie his way out. 

All in all the puritan society is a little crazy over the fact that you can't make a sin or else you don't go to heaven.  In all reality if you accept your punishment or accusation and make peace with your god, then that is all anyone can ask for.  This is what John Proctor was ultimately trying to do in my eyes.  He admitted to his wife and made peace with God so his sin was forgiven by everyone that mattered.  The people didn't matter because no matter what he looked like a sinner and that is what his message to us was getting across.