John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

What exactly is a "hero"? Everyone has their own variation of the definition. Heroes do not have to be extraordinary creatures with superhuman powers. In reality, heroes appear in everyday life. My personal definition of a hero is a generally courageous person who is willing to make sacrifices for the greater good of the people around them. In Act IV of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor decides to not confess to witchcraft, even though he understands that doing so will lead to his hanging. This makes him a martyr. By doing this, he show others that it is dishonorable to throw others under the bus for an act that they do not commit. On page 1356, Proctor proclaims the wrongdoings of many of those accused with the lines “I have three children — how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends,” and “…I blacken all of them when [my confession] is nailed to the church the very day they hang from silence”. According to Arthur Miller’s perception of the Salem Witch Trials, everyone that is accused of witchcraft simply blames anyone against whom they have a vendetta. This causes the panic and dishonesty within the town. By choosing the opposing option to not wrongfully accusing anyone else, John Proctor keeps his integrity and proves that sometimes it is worth doing the right thing, even if the benefits of having ethical values hide behind severe consequences.