What does John mean by "I want my life"?

He is going to confess so he can go home with Elizabeth.

He is not going to confess but he is going to run away.

He is not going to confess to witchcraft so they might as well kill him.

1 answer

In the context of Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible," when John Proctor says "I want my life," he is expressing a deep desire for honesty and the chance to live authentically. He struggles with the choice of confessing to witchcraft to save his life, which would be a lie, or maintaining his integrity and facing execution. Ultimately, this phrase encapsulates his internal conflict about the value of his name and reputation versus the instinct to survive.

Of the options you've given, the closest interpretation is that he is not going to confess to witchcraft, so they might as well kill him. He decides that living a lie is not worth it, indicating that he values his integrity over life if it means living dishonestly.