How the story goes…
Procter is known in the village for his upright reputation. He portrays himself as a religious Christian who follows the 10 Commandments deeply, and strongly discriminates against those hypocritical. Ironically, he himself is a hypocrite and sinner for cheating on his wife. When the village was on the brink of false witchery accusations, despite holding the evidence to clarify the truth, Procter initially hesitated to confess to the court, due to the need for exposing his relationship with Abigail in order to establish his validity. Meanwhile, Procter’s indecisiveness to conduct justice sparked intolerability in his wife, leading to a conflict that demonstrated the deteriorating relationship between the two. “You will not judge me more, Elizabeth. I have good reason to think before I charge fraud on Abigail, and I will think on it. Let you look to your own improvement before you go to judge your husband anymore. I have forgot Abigail…” (52).
However, the arrest of Elizabeth for association with witchcraft would be a major turning point that marks the transformation in Procter’s character and a reversal of the relationship status between the couples.
Been used to Elizabeth’s accompany and presence, Procter suddenly realizes how dear and important she is after being taken away from him, which sparked his determination for testimony, no matter what that would cost– including ruining his reputation for revealing his ugly past with Abigail. “I will fall like an ocean on that court! Fear nothing, Elizabeth” (73). It is also when Procter began actually living up to his religious beliefs. Although Elizabeth’s witchery case took a dramatic and unreasonable turn that ultimately resulted in the accusation of Procter himself for compacting with the Devil, Procter has consistently authenticated himself as an honorable Christian who hands himself in completely to God till the very last moment of his death.
At the end of the story, Procter boldly tore the paper that admitted his witchery (which he did not) to symbolize his will to preserve the last bits of reputation in his name at least for God, regardless of what the villagers may already be thinking of him. “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How many I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (133). Though Procter was hung thereafter as a consequence of such violation, he died of a proud Christian who wouldn’t yield under injustice.
“John Procter”
Draco Malfoy – a household name in the legacy of Harry Potter
In Harry Potter by J.K Rowling, Draco Malfoy is the notorious rival of Harry famous for his anti-muggle beliefs. His hostile relationship with Harry depicts him as a narrow-minded, evil character who is jealous of Harry’s success. Towards the end, however, his decision to save his enemy from Voldemort and not officially take part in the Death Eaters shows that he is nothing more than a “bad guy” with a soft heart (“Why”). The emergence of his morality marks an empowering and heart-warming finish to the story and stimulates Procter as they have both undergone a personality change and decide to live accordingly to principles ultimately.
“Redefining Draco Malfoy as our Synonym for Antagonist”
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Prince” via www.pottermore.com
Bibliography
Miller, Arthur, The Crucibles: A Play in Four Acts, Penguin Classics, 2003.
“Why Draco Malfoy Wasn’t A Typical Villain – Pottermore.” Pottermore. N. p., 2019. Web. 18 Mar. 2019.
March 24, 2019 at 8:16 am
Hi Curie,
I really enjoyed your blog post! First and foremost, your points were sound and they tied back into your main topic of discussion. All of your information was presented in a very clear and concise manner which made for an entertaining blog post to read with your evidence supplementing it. I especially liked how you went in the order of the story featuring only important points that relate to your character which not only gave insight to people who didn’t read the book before, but your insight was very brief and understandable for people of the same audience. Your connection was well thought out, I love Harry Potter so seeing an example involving anybody from that series is great. One question for you, when thinking about both Proctor and Draco in depth, what moral similarities and actions helped label them as both villains and heroes in their own respective place in history? It is a highly debatable topic regarding where these two characters stand on the hero and villain scale and it is easily answered based on perspective so it’d be really interesting hearing your own.
Overall, your blog post completely discussed your topic and was an overall great read. Great Job!
March 24, 2019 at 3:41 pm
Hey Curie,
Your interpretation of Proctor’s character development thoroughly elucidated how an arising conflict could spark a drastic change in one’s personality. While reading The Crucible, I never thought of relating it to Harry Potter despite them having involvement of witchcraft in the story. Your connection is very thoughtful as you explained how both Proctor and Malfoy had an underlying sense of morality and justice and provided instances to support your claim. Something I find interesting about your connection is how both characters decided to uphold their principles although they were doing so at the cost of their lives. Seen as humans are inherently selfish, sometimes I wonder the possibility for someone to die for the ideals they live by–is it worth it or even necessary? As much as I want to believe that I would do so, I highly doubt that.
Something else I found engaging in your post is the way you justified Proctor’s realization of Elizabeth’s importance in his life. You stated, “Been used to Elizabeth’s accompany and presence, Procter suddenly realizes how dear and important she is after being taken away from him.” Although it’s a seemingly common sense, this allowed me to reflect on my attitude towards my family at times. Similar to Proctor, isn’t it pathetic that we, as humans, often neglect the importance of the closest people in our lives until a conflict emerges?
Overall, I love reading your post as it brought me new perspectives and reminded me to cherish for what I have at the moment. I enjoyed how you pointed out the underlying justice/morality that most people live by!
Have a nice day 🙂
– Sunny