The protagonist of a story is the character that the story could not exist without. The protagonist of this particular novel, The Crucible, is John Procter. John is the young farmer that tries to inform the people of the absurdity of the trials taking place. He is one of few that stuck to his beliefs and never gave into charges against him. John overcame his guilt of adultery with Abigail Williams and had feared that it will be revealed to denounce Abigail and the trials. Later, he was faced with the opportunity to save himself by denouncing his friends, yet he chose death, thus showing his sense of goodness and denying his enemies of a victory over him. He represented the goodness and perseverance in the story, which revolves around Abigail's relationship with him.
The antagonist of a story is the character that causes problems for the protagonist. In this story, the antagonist is Abigail Williams. She had a former affair with John Proctor and wanted him back. She resented his wife Elizabeth, therefore cried out on her and later on John himself.
She caused the most problems during the novel, which was what the novel was mostly based upon.
The Crucible consisted of two dynamic characters. The first dynamic character was John Proctor. The story was based upon his relationship with Abigail Williams. Throughout the story his opinions and feelings on subjects such at the Puritan religion, and truth, were expressed. He made many moral decisions, which tested his moral standards. On one occasion, he is forced with the decision of whether or not to continue fighting for his friends or to quit fighting due to his wife's pregnancy and lack of danger.
The other dynamic character of the story is Abigail Williams. She has very strong feelings that cannot be contained. She had an affair with John Proctor, and wanted him back. She envied John's wife. In order to find an outlet for her strong feelings, Abigail cried out on Elizabeth, John's wife, and then later John himself.