John Proctor Hero or Stooge??

     
    
      John Proctor is a very interesting character to define. He can be viewed as either a stooge or a hero. On the one hand, he made the choice to have an affair with Abigail, which helped put this entire event into motion. On the other hand, he did sacrifice himself, which I think of as a heroic act. Originally he was going to confess (lie) and claim he saw the devil, but when they told him to sign a paper that states all of these things are true so they can show the entire town, he decides to rip the paper instead. Of course this leads to his ultimate death. Had he just signed the paper everything would be good and dandy right? Well, I don't necessarily think this is true. Throughout the play, there have been lies on top of lies and John and several other people just wanted the truth. If he signed that paper, it would be just another lie to add into the mix and not solve anything. For him to refuse to sign that paper and to deny that he or anyone else was a witch, was his way of showing the light. In the beginning of the play John was the one lying about his affair and having a hand in the cause of all this mess, but in the end he ends up confessing everything to everyone and tried to show the truth to the town of Salem in his death. He died for the truth which I find heroic. However, in the end did his death really solve anything? Did anything really change for the better or for the worse? I cannot really say exactly, but it is a good example of standing for what you believe in and ironically for John in the end it was the truth. So I guess I must say he was a hero.