I’d have you see some honesty in it. Let them that never lied die now to keep their souls. It is pretense for me, a vanity that will not blind God nor keep my children out of the wind.
– Arthur Miller
The Crucible, Act 4. John Proctor agonizes over whether to falsely confess to witchcraft to save himself from the gallows. For a sinner like him to choose to die alongside the other blameless accused would be pretense or vanity, he feels. So he tries to calm his pride as he moves towards his decision to confess. Proctor is a sinner and deceiver who has cheated on his wife. He feels it more dishonest for him to die alongside those who never lied, like Rebecca Nurse. His speech about the importance of honesty and integrity is his last conversation with Elizabeth.