John Proctor-Hero or Stooge

John Proctor was the root cause for the witch hunt in Salem.  Had he been an honest man in the first place and not committed adultery with Abigail, there never would have been any talk of witchcraft.  There would have been no dance in the Forrest, and life in Salem would have dragged on as normal.  All of John's actions in the story are therefore somewhat undermined by his one mistake, flaw, and dishonest moment(s).  I do not think he is a stooge.  He plays an important role in the play and is the only person not controlled by fear or greed.  He is a serious man who only cares about what he has done and without him there would be no conflict, and therefore no story.  He is not the hero either, this is one of the stories where the good guys do not win and the dark side of humanity wins out over all.  John Proctor hangs in the end, as does his wife and dozens of other uninvolved people, in fact the only person that truly deserves to hang, Abigail, escapes the town, after robbing the minister; her uncle and caretaker, Parris.  In this wake people are orphaned, animals uncared for and total anarchy ensues. In the end Proctor will die, and leave orphan his children, all for the sake of keeping his name clear.  A true hero would do everything in his power to stay alive for his children, no matter how unfair it seems or what people think of you.  John Proctor was just an infallible, imperfect man.  He did what he thought was best and stuck to his morals, even after he had broken them.  That is what ruined his ability to be a hero, he had morals, but broke them.  The hero is the person that sticks to their morals until the very end, and John Proctor was not that man.