John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

        In the story by Arthur Miller, The Crucible, the character of John Proctor turns out to be a very peculiar addition to this story. His behavior and personality at the start differs when compared to the ending. In the beginning, Miller sets him up as a person of great respect and force that has a clean name in the village. As the story proceeds, the reader starts to learn the real John Proctor that shoes his true emotions and thoughts in the final scene of Act four as a sinner. So now the question is: John Proctor, a hero or stooge?
        After finishing this play, I had mixed a mixed response to this question. I knew that John Proctor was genuinely trying to be a nice person who stuck to his faith in the end, yet he had reason to be in this position in the first place. Following and living according to your faith makes a good person but it could not be enough to be considered a hero. Another  interesting point about the ending was the fact that he destroyed his own testimony to save his name and his sons as well. Yes, he is trying to avoid any type of humiliation for his children but if he hadn't committed adultery, there would be no need for that. And to add to this point, his children would never know the real cause for all of this hectic fate.
        According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a stooge is:  a weak or unimportant person who is controlled by a powerful person, organization, etc. This definition seems to fit Proctor since it describes his actions done in the play. Proctor is a stooge since he was always so insecure because of his sin. In Act two, he keeps asking his wife, Elizabeth, for forgiveness and seems to be looking for her approval. This is evidence that he is wanting to be controlled by someone else by asking for permission. Another moment when he is asking for permission is in Act four when he is asking what he should do the morning of his death. This is a decision that he has to make on his own and no need to be asking anyone else to give him instructions to follow.
         For these reasons and explanations, I believe that John Proctor was a stooge since there is no exact and true moment where he is choosing what he wants to do until the very end, which is not enough to justify himself for the entire play.