Essay About John Proctor And Ann Putnam

Ann Putnam’s Internal Struggle
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Character AnalysisAnn Putnam’s internal struggle in the Crucible is that she lost seven children in childbirth and her only daughter could die. All of Mrs. Putnam’s babies “would wither in [her] arms at the very night of their birth”(Miller 146) even though they were healthy babies. Which leads Ann to think all of her children died of supernatural causes because in the sixteenth centaury that was the only plausible answer because they didn’t have modern medicine. Then, Ann decided to send Ruth to “learn from Tituba who murdered her sisters” (Miller 158) because Ann is so desperate to learn who killed her children the thought of send her own daughter to preform witchcraft was plausible. Which is very hypocritical, throughout the first two acts she is accusing numerous people of preforming witchcraft even though she just sent her own daughter to go perform witchcraft.        John Proctor seems like a genuine, good man except for the fact that he had an affair with Abigail and he is the only man who can ruin Abigail’s word.  Before the play begins Abigail was an employee of the Proctors but Elizabeth, John Proctor’s wife, discovers that Abigail and John were having an affair and abruptly fires her. They are the only people who know of the affair. Salem’s has gone crazed because Abigail and the other girls have been claiming people in the town are witches to avoid punishment for them performing witchcraft in forest with Tituba. Elizabeth thinks John should “got to Salem…tell the it is [Abigail] a fraud” (Miller 50) John knows the only way to do this though is to go confess to adultery. Which would have severe punishment because Salem was a protestant theocracy and in the Ten Commandments it says that one cannot lay with anyone besides your wife. Also, confessing to adultery would mean his name would be ruined and his reputation. Making John Proctor internal struggle weather to confess adultery and be shamed or let Abigail keep accusing people of witchcraft and letting innocent people be killed.