The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Sex, sin, and the Devil were early linked and so they continued to be in Salem, and are today (Miller 35)
John Proctor and the Devil are two important characters in The Crucible who reflect Miller’s ideology that sex, sin, and rebellion are an inevitable product of a theocratic society, and can never be completely eradicated.

In my opinion, John Proctor is a symbol of both Miller and society in general. He is a representation of individual freedom and its importance in society, and also Miller’s beliefs that a theocratic society is unavoidably going to fail. Unlike John Calvin, whose ideology is that everyone is born a sinner, he presumes that everyone is a mix of good and evil. John Proctor is an example of this. Although he has sinned, he still feels guilty about it, proving that he is not entirely evil (as the other Puritans might have thought.) Miller believes that the combination of church and state can only lead to corruption of the church. This is displayed in the ...