Proctor the Victim
Throughout The Crucible, Proctor is constantly antagonized by many people including Abigail and Reverend Hale. As the reader begins the story, they quickly find out a little bit of history between Proctor and Abigail. While Proctor is a grown, married man, he commits adulterous acts with Abigail who is seventeen years old. Through the story, Proctor is the victim of Abigail and her plan to get him back.
There is one, clear time in the story where Proctor is a bit of a victim to Abby’s childish, love driven acts. At one point, Abigail frames Elizabeth by being stuck by a needle. When Elizabeth is questioned, Hale finds a poppet with a needle in its stomach. However, Abigail knew that this would be there because she saw Mary Warren making it while in court. In the end, Elizabeth is looked at as having done voodoo towards Abigail.
Now this may seem that Proctor is not a victim but he actually is. Because Elizabeth is accused as a witch, she is taken into custody. Proctor is then forced to try and get her out. Later on, he goes to extreme measures by admitting to the affair in front of the court so that they know Abigail’s true intentions of setting up Elizabeth. “She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave.” (p 110) Proctor is next looked at as a bad man by the community. While Proctor tried to save Elizabeth, he dug himself into a deeper hole and was eventually hung. Everything goes back to Abigail targeting Proctor, making false accusations, and then Proctor eventually being hung. He is the true victim of the story.
