The Crucible?

Question

I understand that John Proctor decides to die so he can have his name..so he doesnt have to make a false confession etc etc..but why would he have to die in the first place? because he didnt committ to the witchcraft? can someone please explain this to me?

Answer 1

I must not understand your question. He had to die because of the charge against him of witchcraft. Although as the reader, we know he did not committ the crime, the characters in the play who executed him thought he was guilty of the crime.(There are arguments that at this point they were aware, but I'm trying to keep it simple)

He was executed because he was an unrepentent witch. A crime punishable by death

Answer 2

He has to die because he has been charged with witchcraft and refuses to give a name of a person he knows to be innocent. Basically the court would rather kill the innocent and be safe rather than let witchcraft roam the town. Logical? no. Fair? definitely not. but that's what happened because of fear. Look at the definition of the word Crucible and the fear and actions should make more sense.

Answer 3

He was accused and found guilty of witchcraft. If he confessed or named names his life would be spared but since he continued to proclaim his innocence the sentence was death by hanging.

It sucks, but that was the way witchcraft trials usually worked. If you confessed to the crime, then your sentence was commuted to life in prison, but if you continued to proclaim your innocence after being found guilty, then you were considered unrepentant and your sentence was death.

In the Crucible, the character of John Proctor, believed the sin of bearing false witness (lying under oath) to save himself while his family, friends and neighbors, also falsely accused would die, would condemn his soul to hell. Burning for eternity was more frightful to him than physical death.

Answer 4

It was because he wouldn't confess. He dies so he can keep his name "clean" from the taint of being called a witch.