Crucible Essay

Bun Tsukamoto
C block
13/12/16

Have you ever compared a character in the book and an athlete? It

might seem silly but there are actually many similarities. John Proctor in the
Crucible and Magic Johnson are very similar to each other because they both
told significant lies, they are both mentally strong, and they both have
something more important to them than family.
One of the similarity they both share is their evaluation on their family.
In the most of the play, John Proctor cares about his reputation so much that
he was afraid of revealing his relationship with Abigail. It was obvious he
cares about his reputation more than his wife because he did not confess
even when his wife was accused of being a witch. In Magic Johnsons life,
basketball was always the most important thing for him. He had the same
girlfriend for over ten years but did not get marriage for a very long time
because of his love for basketball. They both have a wife but have something
more important to them than their wives.
The other similarity is they both had to confess their secret to many
people. John Proctor had an affair with Abigail and it was revealed by his
actual wife Elizabeth. At the end of the play, he was forced to choose either
to die or put his name and his sin onto the churchs door. He did not want his

name to be on the door and stated, I have confessed myself! Is there no

good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon
the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my names are! It is
enough! (Proctor 132). For Magic Johnson, he was infected with HIV 25 years
ago when he was playing in the NBA. The whole world was shocked with this
truth because, at the time, HIV was considered as an unsaveable disease.
The situation was kind of different but they both confessed the truth to the
public.
The last similarity is that they are both mentally strong. It was clearly
hard decision for John Proctor to confess the truth because he cares about his
reputation so bad. However, the confession ruined whole his reputation. Also,
after he decided his integrity rather than his reputation, he never changes
his mind. He chose to die with his integrity at the end of the play. For Magic
Johnson, he was told that he was infected by HIV. However, he decided to
stand up and go against it. He proved everyone has the possibility to be
infected by HIV but people with HIV can survive with certain treatment. They
are both mentally strong because they decided to be themselves even when
they are facing death.
In conclusion, they are similar to each other in many points. Especially,
they are very similar in their characteristics that they were not afraid to die.