John Proctor… he’s a tragic hero because he gave his life and refused to admit to witchcraft. At first, he considered lying, but then when the wanted signed proof on the door of the church, he said “Why my name? You already have my soul, so why must you take my name?” Or something along the lines of that. Basically, he said that he’d only ever have one name and once it was tainted with witchcraft, he would no longer be a respected man in Salem.

for your thesis statement, you could try rewording it:

“The Crucible unfolds as a tragedy through the relationship between the reader and the characters, as the reader experiences the characters undergo emotional tensions, pity, fear and witness a tragic hero.”

something else, you could try replacing pity and fear with contagious hysteria, which just means that the fear is being passed around and people are believing anything because they are so scared of what will happen if they don’t. it is the same thing, only i think , a better phrase for your wording.

hope that helps 🙂