Few characters are considered to be tragic. What makes a tragic hero, and does John Proctor in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," fall into this category? Proctor goes on a mission to end the witch trials and gain his personal dignity. He never gave up or even hesitated on this mission. In the end though his one flaw, his pride, caused his death. John Proctor is most definitely a tragic hero. Proctor holds characteristics that are in the definition of a tragic hero and is therefore a tragic hero. What is a tragic hero? There are actually two types of tragic heroes. The first kind is the classical version setup by Aristotle. He first wrote about tragic heroes in 335 B.C..His tragic heroes were always born into nobility possibly the heir to a throne or a very important figure in society. From birth these heroes were destined to be destroyed or suffer greatly. The tragic hero struggles against this force of destruction mightily and the audience is drawn in by their courage and strength. Every tragic hero fails on this quest to undo their fate from just one flaw that messes everything up and eventually gets them killed (CSUS). The second type of tragic hero is a more recent interpretation. Arthur Miller wrote stories with the same concept of struggle and overcoming but with the common man. The common man tragic hero works relentlessly to achieve one goal, to earn their personal dignity. They all want to become something different or stick out and shake up what everyone else believes. All common man heroes also have one tragic flaw as well, that brings them down from their goals. Miller says how the most important feature in a tragic hero is not how they die but how their optimism never left them (Miller). John Proctor is a prime example of a mix of a classical and common man tragic hero. John was not born into luxury or nobility, but he was a very well respected man in the Salem community. He had everything a good puritan man wants, a good wi