In the beginning of the play John Proctor is introduced as a farmer in his mid thirties, that is not a partisan of the town, and shows a very strong sense of self-preservation. The first real conversation he has with another character is with Abigail Williams, where Abigail is trying to make John tell her that loves her, and that he will come again for her. John tells Abby that their affair is over with and Abby begins to plead for John’s love and he says 

“Abby I may think softly of you from time to time. But I’ll cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby.” 

John knows that he really did have an affair with Abby, but the fact that he denied it shows how in the beginning of the story, he was a man only concerned with only his own self preservation. Despite his adulterous behavior John Procter is a man that often serves as the only voice of reason during the play.

In act two, in the scene where Reverend Hale asked John to recite the Ten Commandments, and John recited all except for adultery. This scene shows that John isn’t just pretending he didn’t commit a sin, but that in his mind the sin of adultery doesn’t exist by itself, it had to be triggered by Elizabeth telling John that he forgot, adultery as one of the commandments. It is from this point on that John Proctor seems more willing to accept the consequences of his behavior. 

“I will fall like an ocean on that court! Fear nothing Elizabeth.” 

Now John has a purpose for direct involvement in the trials, it is the fact that Elizabeth has now been accused of witchcraft. Since John knows she is innocent his statement above shows his will to make sure his wife’s image or life isn’t destroyed by the false accusations of Abigail.

“A man will not cast away his good name. You surely know that.” 

This quote shows how in the middle of the story John fells that his name is the only true thing a man has. This quote comes from the courthouse scene where John tells the judge that the girls danced naked in the woods. After Abigail’s dramatic reaction, John tells the court that he had an affair with Abby, and that she is a whore not to be trusted. At this point John asks that the court see it is only Abigail’s vengeance that Elizabeth is guilty of.

In the final act John Proctor decides to confess to the crime. 

“I have been thinking I would confess to them, Elizabeth. What say you? If I give them that? It is at this point that John realizes that his name is no longer as important as he once thought. “…let them that never lied keep their souls. It is pretense for me, a vanity that will not blind God nor Keep my children out of the wind…” 

But the good name of honest people like Rebecca Nurse still has a profound importance, and John feels that importance. Now John has a burning desire to live and is ready to confess, but just as he signs the confession he snatches it up and rips it in half, because he doesn’t want his name to be scorned in the village. It appears as though John Proctor has come full circle and now refuses to hand the confession over to Danforth. 

“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 may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” 

He realizes that the only thing in this world that he can hang on to is his name, his honor, and the truth. John Proctor’s story is the heart of the play. He represents both the cowardice and courage that Miller sees in everyone in the play, and in the world, caught in dangers beyond their control. His initial reaction is to protect himself only. With time he believes that he needs to protect others, not only himself. But in the end he comes to realize that all he can do and must do is to protect the truth, even at the cost of his own life. By doing so he finally saves his own ‘name’, his truth, and his life, in a different way. This is what Miller is trying to tell us, that there are some things more important than life itself.