Stooge or Not

I understand where John Proctor is coming from.  I find it respectable that he or anyone else would stand up for something they believe in.  At the same time though the decision he made was not a wise decision.  All he had to do was sign a document saying that he had committed some act of witchcraft and he was not going to die.  He signs it but when the judges say they will hang it up on the church door he freaks out and will not let them have the document.  So instead of living and being with his wife and children he dies because he does not want people to see that he admitted to witchcraft on an official document.  That is just not smart, at all.  If he knew he did not actually do anything bad why not just go along with it, why would he care what other people think about him.  That is why I think that John Proctor was more of a stooge than a hero.  Another reason why he was a stooge was because he cheated on his wife which is never a very heroic thing to do.  John Proctor could have saved his life but he was too vain so he died and left his family without him.