John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

       In my eyes I believe John Proctor is a heroic man for the life he lived. In a community where so many important decisions were made strictly based on religion, John Proctor seemed to take his own path. In a very subtle way, it almost appeared as though John rebelled against the lifestyle of the men and women that lived in his community. For example, he skipped church in a couple different scenarios, allowed his child to go unbaptized, and broke one of the ten commandments ("Thou shalt not commit adultery") which, coincidentally, is the commandment he later forgets, as Elizabeth, his wife, must remind him.
       Despite his not-so-religious lifestyle, the community of Salem still respected him and treated him with the same integrity as any other man living there at the time. Unfortunately his death was ultimately due his strong personal virtue, and his determination to tell the truth of his affair regardless of the damage on his public name. His troublesome past with Abigail, and the inability for Elizabeth and him to tell the same truth had him hung. Proctor goes to the gallows convinced he will go to heaven for proclaiming the truth, he also feels his long sin has finally been redeemed. He goes down the way a true hero should, with nothing left behind.