The Puritan community functions on the belief that everyone works collectively for salvation. Therefore, the concept of belonging is very important, everyone must work for the same goal, everyone must attend church, everyone must seeks God's grace for the sake of everyone's salvation.
This is why John Proctor is identified as an outsider in the play. He wants to be an individual, rather than a member of the community. He makes his own decisions, not acceptable to the community which is centered in the church. Proctor is a rebel who does not want to belong, he just wants to live his life according to his own beliefs. His choices come into question when he has an affair with Abigail Williams, behavior that is strictly forbidden.
Proctor opens himself up to criticism and ridicule because he has committed a mortal sin. The community's belief in oneness is then reinforced by the fact that had Proctor been a more faithful Puritan, he would not have fallen into sin.
Belonging is necessary for survival in the Puritan community. That is why, when members of Salem experience hardship and loss, they look to outside forces of evil as the cause. If the community is functioning as a unit and everyone is acting in a way that pleases God, then infant deaths, deaths of livestock, sickness and loss of crops should not happen.
It is the expression of individuality and not belonging that starts all the trouble.
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