Within the pages of the epic novel The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the three characters Rebecca Nurse, John Proctor, and Giles Corey are all driven by deep seated courage. Each of these three characters, were driven by their courage to fight authority when they believed it to be in the wrong. Thought the
Rebecca Nurse’s great courage drives her throughout the novel. In the first act her courage drives her to challenge Mr. Putnam’s belief that the afflicted girls were possessed. She assesses the situation to the best of her abilities and comes to the conclusion that the girls are merely pretending to be possessed. Rebecca being a woman and a weaker member of society should, in all respects, bow to Mr. Putnam, but she does not. She draws upon her courage and challenges Mr. Putnam’s belief. This challenge later leads to the witch accusation directed towards Rebecca Nurse, and yet again she shows her metal after being convicted of this crime. This conviction brought the court’s demand for a confession from her. Rebecca refuses to bend her morals and lie to satisfy the court. Her honesty is what is most precious to her she will not give that away for anything.
John Proctor is a prominent member of society. He is seen as an overall good man who has strong moral beliefs. As the protagonist of The Crucible, John Proctor’s great courage drives him to fight authority when he believes it to be unjust authority that goes against his own moral standard. This first can be seen when Proctor clashes with Reverend Parris because he believes that Parris is a man of greed, selfishness, and contentiousness. Knowing this, Proctor refuses to attend Parris’s sermons of “hellfire and bloody damnation,” as well as smile upon Parris’s want for higher pay (Miller 26). Proctor’s courage calls him to go against the reverend of his church when he believes the minister to be in the wrong. Within a puritan society going against a minister is a serious thing, but Proctor challenges him nonetheless. Proctor’s unbending courage also shows itself when he goes against the witchcraft court and tries to stop them and free the innocent townspeople. He knows that that Giles had already been accused of witchcraft for standing up against the court, but he is willing to risk it if it means possibly saving the “seventy-two condemned to hang by [Danforth’s] signature.” (danforth 83). So he convinces Mary Warren to testify against Abigail. Unfortunately Mary’s courage failed her. Unable to stand under the pressure she buckled and failed to support her testimony. Proctor then summons up his courage and tries to in final and valiant effort to discredit Abigail by confessing to adultery between Abigail and him. This selfless act shows the shear vastness of his courage. This crime was punishable by death in puritan times, and he willingly admitted to it. To trade one’s life for another is truly courageous.
Giles Corey holds within him a great reservoir of courage as well. His ideals and morals are supported by this courage. His courage can be seen in the first act as he stands strong against Thomas Putnam, a prominent figure within the community. Giles refuses to buckle. Unfortunately his courage did not become a benefit to him. This denouncement of Mr. Putnam brought down an accusation upon his wife. He then stands strong against the court and brings forth a deposition, written by him, to help him free his wife. Contained within this deposition was the testimony of an unnamed individual within the community pointing out Thomas Putnam’s malicious motives to accuse his neighbors of witchcraft and buy their land after they had had there land auctioned off by the local government. Danforth then turns to Giles and asks who this person was. With the knowledge that this innocent man would then be accused of witchcraft as well, the courageous Giles refuses to reveal this innocent man’s name. This direct defiance of the court took great courage, but lead to an accusation against him. He sacrificed himself for another, and there is no greater sacrifice. Believing that he would not get a fair trial, Giles decides to not plead “aye” or “nay” against the charges brought before him. He did this so that his land could be passed to his children, but the way they make accused individuals plead is by placing large rocks upon them until they plead. He suffered for two full days with only three mouthfuls of bread and water. While this unspeakable torture forced his eyes to be push from his head and his bones to break he did not cry out. The only words he spoke were, “more weight,” until he finally died at noon on the third day (__________). The courage taken to withstand such horrible torment is unspeakable. This man’s strength and courage can not be found on a tree, it is a deep seated courage which is too deep to be measured and too vast to be weighed.
All three of these characters strove forward to fight authority this authority was wrong in their eyes. They may not have profited from their endeavors, but that does not change their character. Rebecca Nurse, John Proctor, and Giles Corey are all extremely courageous individuals.