Why John Proctor's Death Was Pretty Selfish and Unnecesary

Although John Proctor died to send a message to the people of the town, I honestly think his death was selfish and unnecessary. His death was selfish because he did not consider how others would be impacted by his death. For example, he has three sons and his wife Elizabeth is pregnant with a fourth kid. These four kids have to grow up without a father. Also, this means Elizabeth will have to find a way to provide for her kids and raise them on her own, which is a lot for one person to take on. John Proctor did not consider this when making his decision, conveying how he was selfish in making his decision to die. In addition, he does not consider Reverend Hale's feelings. Reverend Hale feels very guilty about the deaths of the people caused by the witch trials as evident by "There is blood on my head!" (Miller 312-313) and this guilt is further intensified by John Proctor's death. Before John Proctor is sentenced to hang, Hale tries to convince him to sign the confession saying how John cannot die, but John Proctor ignores Hale's wishes and chooses to follow through with his decision to die. John Proctor chooses to die out of pride, without considering how his decision will impact those around him, thus his decision to die is selfish.

Not only was his decision selfish, but it was also unnecessary. People in Andover were already starting to rebel after realizing that the witch trials were wrong, and this happened before Proctor's demise. Thus, Proctor did not have to die for people to realize that what was going on was wrong and that change is needed. Also, Abigail Williams left town, so it is not possible for the trials to continue, as the girl in charge and main accuser is not there to accuse. John Proctor dies so that the people realize that what is going on is wrong and that change needs to occur. However, his death is not necessary for these things to happen as people were already realizing that the trials were wrong and there was no way for the trials to continue without Abigail Williams. Thus, I do not think Miller's choice in having John Proctor die was really necessary.