[Sproogle]

John Proctor, the main character in Arthur Miller's famous play The Crucible, is indeed a very tragic hero. He fufills the criteria excellently, fitting into every aspect of the tragic hero with ease. He is good, but not perfect, where he has had a past indecency, but overcomes that and is otherwise a good man. His fall is not his own fault, rather, it is brought to him by an outside and very wicked force. But his downfall is not completely deserved, since he is otherwise a good man. And in the end, his loss is not pitiable, but rather an insight, where he discovers what kind of man he can be.
Proctor committed adultery, one of the worst thigns a person can do in Puritcan society. He slept with Abigail, his former servant, but she will not forget it because she still desires him. He feels horrible about what he did, but has reconciled. "Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time/ But I will cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again." This quote, on page twenty two, perfectly illustrates how Proctor feels about the incident. He knows he has a problem, and he knows what he did is wrong, but has resigned, himself to putting it in the past.
When his crime is found out, it is by his own tongue. "I have known her, sir. I have known her." On page 110, Proctor finally tells the court about his affair with Abigail. This immidiately sets the place into an uproar. But he did it to save his wife, who was being questioned as a witch. So in destroying himself, and starting his own fall to death, he saved another, surely making him worthy of the title of hero.