John Proctor- Hero or Stooge?

A hero is defined as “ The chief male character in a book, play, or movie, who is typically identified with good qualities, and with whom the reader is expected to sympathize.”.  A stooge is defined as “ a person who serves merely to support or assist others, particularly in doing unpleasant work”. In my eyes, John Proctor is both a hero and a stooge. He showed heroic qualities in his final hours of life as he never ever lied in saying that he was a witch. Although his life could’ve been saved if he had untruthfully “confessed” practicing witch craft, he refused to oblige and died a martyr of some sort. John Proctor didn’t always portray the qualities of a hero, he was unfaithful to his wife, but in the end he sacrificed his life for others, and their lives were potentially saved. John didn’t greedily save his own life and lie about others. He didn’t send innocent people to their death beds, and instead he attempted to end the horrific sequence of arresting, lying, and killing in Salem. In similar ways, John Proctor is a “stooge” as well. Although John to solely survive to “assist” others, he died in order to save others. His death was unnecessary and did not need to happen, but it did happen.