| Errors | Missing | Unverified | Supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
In the climax of the 1996 film The Crucible, the main character, John Proctor (played by Daniel Day-Lewis), goes to the gallows (the scaffold) to be executed by hanging.
The reasons for his choice, and the events leading to it, involve several specific details:
After being arrested for witchcraft, Proctor is pressured to sign a written confession to save his life. Initially, he agrees to confess orally because he feels that, as a sinner (due to his past affair with Abigail Williams), he is not "worthy" of the martyrdom of those like Rebecca Nurse, who refuse to lie. However, the situation changes when Judge Danforth insists that he sign his name to the confession and that the document be nailed to the church door for all of Salem to see.
Proctor's primary reason for choosing the gallows over life is the preservation of his "name"—representing his honor, legacy, and personal integrity. He realizes that if he signs the confession, he is not just saving his life, but also providing the corrupt court with the "legal" justification to execute other innocent people.
In the film’s most famous moment, he tears up the signed confession and shouts:
"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!"
By choosing to die, Proctor finds the redemption he has been seeking since his affair. He decides that he would rather die an honest man than live as a fraud. His wife, Elizabeth, recognizes this internal victory; when Reverend Hale begs her to plead with John one last time as he walks to the gallows, she refuses, stating:
"He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!"
The film's climax concludes with Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and Martha Corey standing on the gallows. As a final act of defiance and a testament to their innocence, they begin to recite The Lord’s Prayer in unison. According to the internal logic of the trials, a witch or someone in league with the Devil was believed to be unable to recite the prayer perfectly. They finish the prayer just as the trapdoors open, leaving the town of Salem in a stunned, silent state of realization regarding the court's injustice.
The summary claims they 'finish the prayer', but the film specifically cuts them off before the 'Amen'. This is important because completing the prayer without error was the test for innocence; the court executes them before they can technically 'pass' the test (or just as they are about to), heightening the tragedy and injustice.
In the climax of the 1996 film The Crucible, John Proctor (Daniel Day-Lewis) goes to the gallows to be hanged alongside Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey. He chooses this fate after refusing to sign a false confession that would be nailed to the church door, famously declaring, "Because it is my name!" On the scaffold, the three begin reciting the Lord's Prayer—a feat witches were allegedly unable to perform—but are executed just before they can speak the final "Amen," proving their innocence to the crowd only in the moment of their death.