John Procter, as described above, is an honest, hard-working man, who has committed adultery. There are several instances in the book in which Proctor’s character is tested, each of which provide clearer insight into his persona. Firstly, after his wife is arrested for witchcraft and Judge Danforth offers him a year with his wife before she is tried, Proctor refuses to accept the deal and drop his denial of the charges. In this situation, we see Proctor’s loyalty towards his friends who are also on trial. Similarly, in order to save his wife’s life and show the illegitimacy of the court, Proctor acknowledges his affair with Abigail Williams. Although against his wishes, this action provides a possibility of clearing his wife’s name, again displaying his loyalty for his wife and friends, in addition to his honest nature. Finally, after being condemned to hang, Proctor takes back his false confession of contact with the devil, which he intended to clear him of charges. Rather than pretend to have seen the devil to save his own skin, he decided that it was best to keep his conscience clean. This thereby illustrates a sense of honesty in Proctor that defines his life.
In addition to the development of John Proctor, Miller portrays a clear evolution in the character of Reverend Hale over the course of the play. Hale arrives at Salem as a highly touted Reverend who would be able to detect the presence of witches in Salem, specifically Reverend Parris’s daughter, Betty. After finding such witchcraft, he soon brings about multiple confessions in Salem, leading to the creation of a court meant to deal with the issue. However, Hale slowly loses faith in the claims of witchcraft and the court itself, citing the accusatory nature of the court and the evidence presented by Proctor. As such, Hale eventually leaves the proceedings all together due to uncertainty, coming back only to try to save the lives of Rebecca Nurse and the Proctors. Therefore, Hale’s personality experiences a major shift as he alters his convictions due to evidence, proving him to be a logical and rational man, and not a stubborn religious zealot.
Beyond his use of characterization, Miller also employs the technique of irony, particularly dramatic irony. Miller uses this technique to alter the way the reader looks at each character. An example of this in the play is in John Proctor’s reciting of the Ten Commandments. A man who has committed adultery, Proctor can recall all of the commandments except for the very one that he violated. Similarly, Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, provides an example of both irony and dramatic irony in her testimony in court, in which she states that she had no knowledge of John’s indiscretion with Abigail. This is ironic in the sense that John stated to the court that Elizabeth never lies; as it turns out, the only situation in which she does lie is the time she most needs to tell the truth. This scenario involves dramatic irony in the sense that the reader and the court all know that John has already confessed to adultery, but Elizabeth does not and subsequently lies in front of the court. Miller’s use of irony in these examples allows him to incite certain reactions from the reader, including pity and empathy.
A final key technique Miller employs, though somewhat more sparingly than character development and irony, is symbolism. Specifically, symbolism is used in the title of the play and in its final scene. By definition, the word “crucible” refers to a difficult test or trial. This is exactly what John Proctor faces on several different occasions, described above, which test Proctor’s beliefs, attitudes, and integrity, just as the Red Scare tested Miller in the 1950’s. In addition, Miller displays symbolism in the form of John Proctor’s name, which becomes evident during the final moments of Proctor’s life and the play. In this scene, Proctor recants his testimony due to Danforth’s insistence of placing a signed copy of the testimony on the door of the community church. The reason Proctor takes back the false testimony is that the signed copy would tarnish his name, which, more than anything, represents Proctor’s character, values and everything else in his life. Proctor’s name therefore symbolizes his person, and Miller uses symbolism to illustrate a key message of the play, integrity and staying true to one’s word and one’s self.
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