John Proctor, Hero or Stooge? [better late than never...]

Before I start, yes, I do realize this is Sunday, and yes, I realize the blog was due Friday. I'm not going to waste time with my excuses because they are irreleveant. However, even though I may have already gotten a zero on this assignment, I'm still going to do it (of course!) even though I am two days late. So without much further ado, I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, the ever controversial John Proctor.
The place is Salem, the time 1692. You are an upright Christian man living with a pious wife and three children, and farming for a living. All is well in your small town: everyone gets along most of the time, everyone is a righteous, God-fearing Christian and nothing really eventful ever really happens. Not too bad, right? Until your life is turned upside down when three girls accuse your wife and you of being a witch (including the underage girl you had an affair with) and after a long trial and several more accusations, you are finally put to death. What a life.
So did John Proctor die a hero or a stooge? Both sides can make valid arguments, however, I believe he was a hero. It cannot be denied that he had an affair with seventeen year old Abigail Williams, who is in my opinion, a terrible flirt with some newfound power. When Abigail basically asks him to leave his wife and marry her, Proctor defends himself and says that, "...I will cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again." He realizes that he made a huge mistake in this one-time affair and now knows that he must be loyal to his wife and his family. But then Abigail softens and asks, "Do you tell me you've never looked up at my window?" And at the crucial moment, John says, "I may have looked up." So he does realize his weakness in that maybe he is not completely over Abigail, but after all, he is only human. He is vailiantly trying however, to resist this temptation and stay loyal to his family.
When Abigail claims to be possessed by the Devil and accuses John Proctor's wife Elizabeth of witchcraft, he doesn't react with shame or embarassment, instead he stands by her in time of need and does everything in his power to protect her. When he made the decision not to go back to Abigail and stay with his wife instead, he made the right and just one. But then Abigail, immature and hell bent on getting her revenge, accused his wife and it all went downhill from there. John Proctor was the bigger person in the end, and even though this one unfortunate bad decision cost him and his wife their lives, he remained a loyal husband and father until the day he died. For this reason, John Proctor is most definitely a hero.