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.