In The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays the two main characters, John Proctor and Reverend John Hale as "good men". The term "good men" in this play is ambiguous. Reverend John Hale was a good man in the sense of being the perfect, good citizen of Massachusetts in 1600. He was pious, an adherent of laws and beliefs, and a good Puritan Christian. John Proctor, in contrast, would not be considered the greatest citizen. He wasn't that religious, nor the perfect Christian, and he wasn't that adherent to Puritan laws and beliefs. However, he was still considered a "good man", as a person rather than as an ideal Puritan citizen. He was very honest, moral, loyal to his friends and family and was generous. The two men can be contrasted as a good puritan and a good person. The most important characteristic to prove that John Proctor was a good person was his honesty. In every scene of the play in which John Proctor is present, his commendable honesty stands out. No matter how much trouble he got into, his philosophy was "I can speak from my heart" (Miller, p.30). Proctor's honesty ultimately led to his downfall and death. The first incident in the play where we see Proctor's honesty is after the affair he had with Abigail. He realized his mistake, was honest, and admitted it to his wife Elizabeth. In the next situation Proctor is involved in, he tells Reverend Parris why he doesn't like him, and this also gets him in trouble. She tells him, “Can you talk a minute without us landing in hell again, I'm sick of hell! (p. 30). He's honest, but disrespectful to his reverend. While in court, John Proctor is too honest for the judges. He admits his guilt of not being a religious Christian and says: "I plowed once or twice on Sunday" (p.91) and also admits that he did not go to church every Sunday. He also admits that he committed adultery a relationship with Abigail. His most commendable moment of honesty was when he was on death row and would rather die than confess and lie. Proctor's morality and loyalty also contribute to him being a good person when Marshals Herrick and Cheever came to arrest his wife, he remained at her side to protect her, even though she was accused of being a witch.