Crucible critical lens

"The bravest of individuals is one who obeys his or her conscience," was once written by

J.F Clarke, when this quote is broken down one may notice the amount of truth behind it. J.F

Clarke's interpretation of braveness and conclusion is very accurate, he is saying that when a

person follows their conscience they generally make astute decisions. John Proctor and Giles

Corey are two characters that are faced with two choices, one good and one bad. Proctor and

Corey decide to suffer the consequences of their actions because they follow their conscience.

In The Crucible, John Proctor is faced with a life or death situation. Even though John

Proctor has the choice of which path to follow, life or death, there are many other variables that

ultimately lead him to his choice. John's decision is ultimately decided by the conception of

dying with pride or dying confessing to something he simply did not do. The conscience of John

Proctor comes into play while he is ultimately deciding his faith, shall he live his life in exile like

no man should, or die with honor and obey his inner senses to protect his family and his last

name. This makes John brave because of the ultimate sacrifice given up by an honest man to

obey his inner senses. The use of literary elements in play, all lead to the climax and turning

point of the story, which is when John is hung. Arthur Miller's use of rising action creates a

surplus of tension and animosity between each of the towns people in fear of they in time will be

blamed of witchcraft, just as many others have already, helps lead up to the climax of the story

which is when John is faced with the proposition of life and death. Arthur Millers use of

dramatic irony also increases the plot's realness and tension, the readers know that Abigail is

attempting to get her way out of a situation by blaming. John makes the moral decision as he
follows his conscience, even though he is hung he was able keep his pride by not confessing to

something he didn’t do.

Giles Corey is old man who accidently accuses his wife of witchcraft. He mentions that

his wife is an avid reader, this leads to the accusation that his wife is a witch. He knows his wife

is innocent and recognizes that his own actions have led to her incarceration and impending

death. He attempts to defend his wife by going to the court and showing them proof that, in at

least one case, the accusation is based on Thomas Putnam’s greed for a neighbor’s bit of land.

This backfires and he is condemned himself. By revealing a trivial fact about his wife he has

provided the both of them a death sentence. Giles Corey is characterized as a very valiant

character when he decides not to deny or confesses to the charges of witchcraft. This is done to

make sure that his sons are the only ones that inherit land and Putnam does not get what he

wants. He is then pressed to death but his valiance continues to prevail, and when they ask him to

confess the only thing that he says is “More weight”(Act 4). His conscience helped him to keep

his land in the right hands.

John Proctor and Giles Corey’s bravery is displayed through their tough sacrifices. Both

characters followed there conscience, and sacrificed themselves because they were very moral.

Proctor made an decision to keep his pride and not confess to something he didn’t do. Corey tries

to oppose the court, he tries to exploit Putnam and he sticks with his opinion until his death. Both

characters show there bravery by making sacrifices while following their conscience.