The Crucible: Act 2

According to the True Colors test we took in class, every person can be summed up in one out of four color personalities. The characters of The Crucible are no exception. Personality traits such as the thinker, doer, planner, and helper can be used to describe almost everyone. Relating these character traits to the characters in the Crucible can help us better understand them.

John Proctor, popular in Act Two for his affair with Abigail Williams, is a very strong example of a gold personality (planner). He was a proud man and worked hard to keep himself good in name. He was accused of doing bad things with Abigail and later admitted to them. He told his wife, "I should have roared you down when first you told me your suspicion. But I wilted, and, like a Christian, I confessed. Confessed! Some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day. But you're not, you're not, and let you remember it! Let you took sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not (Miller 55)." After all of the wrong that he did, John continued to try to keep his family together. Gold personalities are very power oriented and show leaership, so I think John fits nicely into the category (Lowry Online).

The next color of the four personality types is green. Knowing that green (thinker) describes a clever, research oriented person, I think Reverend Hale suits the color best (Lowry Online). He served as the peace maker for the novel. John and Elizabeth Proctor called upon Hale to help them end their marriage issues. He acted as a judge hearing both sides and making conclusions. He also spent a lot of time in search of the witches. His Christian ways caused him to examine Betty for witchcraft as if she was a science experiment. The reverend was nosy and very interesed into the religious views of the Proctor's, and he encouraged the community to testify in the witchcraft case.

The next category is blue (helper), which portrays an emotional, romantic character (Lowry Online). Out of the characters in The Crucible, I would choose Elizabeth Proctor as a blue personality. She stands up for herself against her husband, John. She tries to come off as being tough during their argument, but is really emotional through the entire thing. A similar situation happened when she was being arrested. She tried to be tough through it, but the narrator admits that there were tears in her eyes.

Finally, we have a yellow personality (doer). I am picking Abigail Williams for this group becuase she is a free spirit and does what she wants. She's a liar and looked down upon in the religion based society becuase of her wrong actions. Although she knows she is disrespected, Abigail continues to do what she wants.

Knowing the True Colors personality traits can help us better understand the characters in the Crucible. The four traits make the characters easier to understand and relate to. They also provide a basis to look for when analyzing the characters actions. 

Lowry, Don. "True Colors." True-colors.com. True Colors International. Web. 11 Sept. 2011.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY. Penguin, 1976. Print.