When John Proctor enters Reverend Parris's house in Act One, Miller describes him as a man who had no patience for hypocrisy. Miller says, "In Proctor's presence a fool felt his foolishness instantly -- and a Proctor is always marked for calumny therefore." In other words, Proctor makes people very aware of their own failings just by being himself, and so he inspires their intense dislike and draws the criticism of such people.
However,...
When John Proctor enters Reverend Parris's house in Act One, Miller describes him as a man who had no patience for hypocrisy. Miller says, "In Proctor's presence a fool felt his foolishness instantly -- and a Proctor is always marked for calumny therefore." In other words, Proctor makes people very aware of their own failings just by being himself, and so he inspires their intense dislike and draws the criticism of such people.
However, Miller also describes him as someone who feels a great deal of internal conflict due to the fact that he does not possess an "untroubled soul." He has committed sins not just according to Puritan mores but against his own conscience (the chief of these, revealed later, is his infidelity to his wife). As a result of this internal conflict, Miller says that he "has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud" despite his appearance as a confident, powerful, and righteous man.
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