John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

Personally, I feel like John wasn't decidedly either, but if i had to choose a side he fell most on, it would be hero. He chose to not confess and be a true Puritan because confessing would be lying, even though it would end up saving him. He could have easily confessed and passed the blame on to someone else, and many people were pressuring him to do it. Instead, he chose the noble path and stayed true. There was no getting out by admitting not not having done the crime, so the only way to get out was, in his case, lying and passing on the blame. But this would have been untrue to not only himself, but all of the other people who were truthfully not admitting to having partaken in witchcraft. With all the pressure on him to confess and the idea that he could once again be with his wife, I feel like the pull to falsely confess would be really strong. And I am almost positive that had it been me in his place, i would have confessed to save my own life. Though I want to be a truthful person, with all the confessions and general falsehood occurring back then i would have been overwhelmed and lied to save myself. So, based on that I feel like John Proctor was more of a hero. The only thing making me doubt his complete heroic-ness was the fact that for a short period of time prior to his hanging, he was considering confessing. He almost did until they asked him who he saw with the Devil, and when they asked him to sign the confession papers, he refused because he didn't want to blacken his name with the lies that were his confession. He says, "Because it is my name! Because i cannot have another in my life! Because i lie and sign myself to lies... I have given you my soul; leave my name!" (I read this on the kindle so I'm not sure what page number it was - 95% on the kindle). Overall, though he almost gave himself up, I feel like he was definitely more of a hero in this situation.