John Proctor to me is a hero. While he does do some questionable things throughout the story, he had good intentions. It is not apparent in the very beginning, but as it goes on it shows that he is against the rest of the town's beliefs that a lot of the women were "witches". He is one of the two people that don't jump to the conclusion that Betty and Ruth were corrupted by Satan. The only two that thought that maybe they were just sick and it would blow over.
While he does cheat on his wife with Abigail, he is completely on Elizabeth's side when she is brought to trial. Abigail, beforehand, even tries to tempt him again and he tells her no. John Proctor has made some mistakes, but he tries to fix them and defend what is important to him: his beliefs and his family.
He is also very brave with how he approaches the town. He knows that going against the towns religion and his could harm him and his family, but he goes for it anyway. He is not afraid. He is one of the few that thinks out of logic instead of religion. It is something admirable in this town and John Proctor should get some recognition. John Proctor stood up to what he believed in, could you?
Just playing Devil's advocate here (cause actually I agree with you) - do you think he did the right thing in the end because he really felt it was the right thing? Or do you think he was just too embarrassed and didn't want people to know that he was backing down?
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