For What Reasons Do Parris And Hale Want Proctor To Confess At The End Of The Play: Essay, Research Paper
John Proctor is a strong and
important character in this play, The Crucible. Towards the end of Act three he
admits that he is a lecher and he claims he can see the devil. He says, ?God
is dead? because God does not seem to be helping the people through this
town crisis. Proctor?s decision, at the end of the play, certainly changes your
mind about him and he turns into a hero.What urged Proctor to go to court
in the first place was his wife, Elizabeth. When she heard that Rebecca Nurse,
a religious woman who does not even believe in witchcraft, had been arrested
for practising witchcraft. Elizabeth knew it had gone too far and wanted
Proctor to tell the truth about Abigail and why she is telling all these lies,
to get at Proctor because he does not want to be with her. Going to court was a
big mistake it ended in him being condemned.There are many reasons why
different people want Proctor to confess or not, but whatever his decision it
will be a bad one. He will either hang or confess. If he confesses then his
confession will be nailed to the door of the church for everyone in Salem to
see. He will be lying because he never did see the devil or perform any
witchcraft. The other six people will also be seen as traitors of God if they
confess because they have been accused of witchcraft.These seven people are to be hung
for crimes they did not commit. According to Danforth this is in order to be
fair to the other twelve people who were unfairly hung, who were accused of
being witches though there was no solid evidence to prove this judgement.
Obviously he does not admit that they were unfairly hung because that would
prove he had made incorrect judgements, and ruin his reputation. Danforth and
Hathorne use injustice, which the people of Salem believe to be true. Proctor
does not believe this though.If Proctor were to confess, Parris
and Hale would be very happy and luckily for them he does confess. He does it
to save himself, but mainly for the lives of the other prisoners however he
does not want to accuse them ?I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I
have no tongue for it?. When Proctor confesses Parris expresses his
happiness saying ?Praise God!? This is because he wanted to
excommunicate Proctor from the church long ago but could not because many
people thought him a good Christian ?It cannot be forgot, sir, that when I
summoned the congregation for John Proctor?s excommunication there were hardly
thirty people come to hear it?. Now that John has confessed, Parris can
excommunicate him from the church because the confession proves he is not a
good Christian. Proctor does not like Parris; ?I
have no love for Mr Parris. It is no secret? it is not unlikely that this
feeling of dislike is mutual as there is often disagreement between them. After
all Parris did want Proctor excommunicated from the church, perhaps this was
not only because Proctor was not a practising Christian. Parris would love to
see this well respected man despised of by the people of the Salem community
because he blames Proctor for Abigail (his niece) leaving Salem.At the beginning Hale was sure that
there were witches among the people in the town but he comes to realise that
honest, good people are being executed. Hale would be very happy if Proctor
confessed because he would, and does, blame himself for Proctor?s hanging ?I would save your husbands life, for if he
is taken I count myself his murderer? he tells Elizabeth. He came to the town believing that he knew all
about witchcraft, what he did not realise was that it can destroy lives whether
it is fact or fiction. By the end of the play he realises that all he has been
saying is untrue and the law uses it as evidence ?It is mistaken law that leads you to sacrifice?. Hale feels guilty and responsible for
Proctor?s sentence to death which is why he asks the court to postpone the
hangings ?Excellency, if you
postpone a week . . .? so he will
have time to prove to the court that they should not be hung and try to put
right what he has done wrong, but it is too late. The only chance he has of
saving Proctor?s life is to encourage him to confess, so he turns to Elizabeth ? let you not be mistaken your duty as I
mistook my own. I came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved,
bearing gifts of high religion; the very crowns of holy law I brought, and what
I touched with my bright confidence, it died; and where I turned the eye of my
great faith, blood flowed up?. He
admits to his mistakes in an attempt to save lives. If he encourages people to
confess then he will be telling them to lie, which is against his religious
code and is a moral sin. He knows that the prisoners know this so he tells
them; ?God damns a liar less than
he that throws his life away for pride?.By the time Hale realises the injustice going on it is too late for him
to have any influence. Hale is a bit like Pontius Pilate in the play because he
sees the injustice but does not go against the court?s conclusion. The innocent
victims of the tragedy are like Jesus. Christians believe that Jesus?
crucifixion was to save future generations; it is the same in this situation
because those who learnt a lesson from the tragedy are saved from the same
crisis ever happening again. The victims sacrifice their lives for the future
generations to prevent another great loss of life.Parris and Hale have very different reasons as to why they want Proctor
to confess. Parris wants a confession out of spite whereas Hale feels
sympathetic towards Proctor and guilty for his own actions.This play is good at getting the audience involved, making them really
think about what is happening on stage. It makes the audience ask questions for
instance; why does Abigail tell so
many lies? and why can?t Danforth face the truth? However the most significant question the
audience ask is; why does Proctor
confess and then tear up his confession? The dilemma he is faced with is similar to the one he faced when he
had an affair with Abigail. He does not want to confess but he knows that he
must do so in order to save other lives as well as his own. This is his reason
for his confession. Then he is told that the confession, with his name on it,
will be nailed to the door of the church for everyone in Salem to see. All will
know him as a traitor to God. His name will always be associated with this, it
will be tainted forever and he does not want that. ?How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my
name!? it is almost as if his name
will be taken from him.The other prisoners want to die with dignity instead of signing their
names to a lie. Proctor knows his motives are different from the other
prisoners but he does not want to make another mistake so he tries to act in
accordance to his moral code, which is why he tears up the confession. He does
it to spite Hale and Parris who desperately want him to confess. Furthermore
his decision means that no doubt will be cast over his name or the other
victim?s names. His decision to hang was the moral and honest thing to do,
which is why he is seen as a hero at the end of the play. He has finally done
something right. He treats the hanging as a punishment for his sins.I think that when Proctor was making his decision he thought about God.
If he signed the confession and continued to live his life he knew that he
would burn in hell. Although Proctor did commit many sins and did not attend
church regularly he still believed in God, even though he said, ?God is dead?. He only believed this because everything seemed to be going wrong.
Proctor knows that if he hangs it will be the best for him, it will prove to
God that he knows he has done wrong. I think he makes the right decision
because he is honest with himself.