What kinds of punishment is befitting a man who has done nothing but try to lead an honest life, and immediately seeks forgiveness whenever he has done something wrong? It must be that the man should be jailed for life, or just a simple hanging so he won’t be a nuisance anymore. It is this kind of inhumane and ironic act that the council believes John Proctor deserves. Here is a man who has lived his life morally and the council thinks he should die. All of this is because of one immoral act Proctor did long ago and because of this act: his wife distanced herself, and he shatters his own reputation. Since the village does not believe in Confession, the key to John Proctor’s salvation remains not in the village but within himself.
Proctor needs the support of Goody Proctor because to have a good marriage. Proctor has spoken to his wife about his lecherous acts with Abigail Williams. He has proven to her, his honesty by telling her about his immoral acts, but Proctor feels like Mrs. Proctor has not forgiven him. Since the village, “had no ritual for the washing away of sins” (Miller 20), he turns to his wife to forgive him and absolve his sins. Proctor feels as if he has been unable to be redeemed from his sin because his wife remains cold and distant. Since Proctor thinks that his wife has not forgiven him, this sin will continue to cause Proctor great turmoil, and continue to look for forgiveness.
. He tries to convince the village that Abigail Williams is nothing but a lying whore. He wants to tell the village this, but in order to do it he has to explain what he did. He does not want to diminish his reputation by explaining his sin and having the people look at him as a lecher. Although, he wants to tell of this sin so that Abigail will be punished for her actions. This is an internal conflict that Proctor seems to be facing, but as he says, “God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance, and you must see it” (110).
As Proctor says this he is risking his reputation to see that Abigail faces justice. More importantly he is looking for forgiveness and using the choice-supportive bias, meaning he looks to justify his mistake with Abigail even though he knows he can not.
Proctor is choosing between two evils now. He has harmed so many people already so he confesses about his sin; the council demands Proctor make to a fake confession about using witchcraft so he doesn’t bring harm to anyone else, except himself. A false confession is what Proctor is trying to avoid because it is unjust and he is still an honest man. He knows that he will die, but he does not want a public hanging because people will view him as a saint. Proctor’s sin is not yet cleansed, so he does not think he deserves it. It is only when Mr. Hale tells Proctor, “Man, you will hang! You cannot!”, and Proctor decrees, “I can. And there’s your first marvel, that I can.” (144). Proctor understands that he can receive his death sentence with great humility. He realizes that there is no ritual to wash his sins within the village but there lies a ritual within God. Proctor forgives himself and then asks God for forgiveness to atone for his sin. Proctor accepts his flaw and forgives himself. He does not think of himself as a saint but Proctor has accepted his sentence as a final redemption.
Proctor knows that he is human, and humans were preconceived to make mistakes. He believes in honesty but has made a mistake that has contradicted his perspective on life. With the many shifts he gradually has throughout the play. Proctor has come to consider himself an honest man, from the positive and negatives of proctor’s journey he has succumbed to the fact that this flawed society should not be judging him. He comes to terms that God is the only one who can forgive him and deem his redemption as just.
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