Essay, Research Paper: Examples Of Integrity

Webster's dictionary defines integrity as the quality or state of being of sound
moral principal, uprightness, honesty, and sincerity. This definition is confusing and rather
difficult to understand. Integrity is like honesty, but is an entirely different virtue.
Integrity is basically the ability to know the difference between right and wrong then to do
what is right. When a person is considered to have integrity, that person is thought of to
be just and honorable. Many examples of integrity and the lack of integrity can be found
through history. Integrity is shown in many people, but two people in particular - John
Proctor, from The Crucible and Sammy Sosa, a popular baseball player for the Chicago
Cubs. Both of these men have proved their integrity, but each in their own different ways.
The person I think personifies the lack of integrity is George Herman "The Babe" Ruth, a
hall of fame baseball player. The Babe is a good example of lack of integrity and shows
the diversity of people that have played the game of baseball.
John Proctor, the husband of Elizabeth Proctor, in the play The Crucible showed
integrity throughout the story. Before the play picked up, John Proctor had committed
adultery with Abigail Williams. Even though he was initially dishonest, he later told his
wife about the affair because he felt guilty and knew it was wrong to keep this a secret
from her. His wife was the only other person who now knew of his crime, so in affect the
rest of the town saw John Proctor as an honorable man and husband. Later in the play, as
the Salem Witchcraft Trials continued, Elizabeth Proctor was accused of witchcraft. The
only way to prove Elizabeth's innocence was for John Proctor to publicly confess his sin of
adultery to the town judge and lose his honorable name or to die himself of witchcraft.
This was a risk he was willing to take because he truly loved his wife and wanted what
was best for her. Even though Elizabeth denied that John had committed adultery, it
would have taken a man with integrity to die for his good name and to save the name and
life of his wife.
Sammy Sosa, an outfield player for the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, is a man
who truly exhibits integrity during his baseball games and in-between them. Throughout
the 1997-1998 baseball season, Sosa was in a race with Mark McGwire to break a
homerun record for most homeruns in a season set by Roger Marris back in 1961.
Throughout the whole race to break the record, Sammy Sosa remained an honorable man
and never claimed to be better than McGwire or said anything bad about McGwire. He
never went publicly bragged about his accomplishments, but instead he was very humble.
He always gave Mark McGwire the respect he deserved and never made himself out to be
better. Sammy Sosa was the second to break Marris' record after McGwire, but he didn't
have a big celebration or get a new car like Mark McGwire did, but he also never
complained about that fact. Through all of Sammy Sosa actions and accomplishments,
McGwire showed that he had integrity.


The Babe is almost the total opposite of Sammy Sosa. While The Babe was
probably one of the best baseball players that ever lived, he was not one of the baseball
players with the most integrity. The Babe was abandoned by his parents and lived as a
trouble maker at St. Mary's Industrial School for orphans where his mentor Brother
Matthias introduced him to baseball and started to harness his talent. During his
professional career, The Babe was known for his ill temper and party attitude. He often
showed up to his games (especially the big, important games) hung-over or even drunk.
The Babe was married three times - each time he beat his wife and continually cheated on
her with many mistresses. During his last few professional years, his life of partying had
caught up to him and he couldn't even run the bases on his own after he hit a home run.
His last year in the Major Leagues he was manager because his body could no longer play
the game. Unfortunately, The Babe was as bad a manager as he was a husband and ended
up getting fired. When he died, almost nobody cared, so he died alone with no one to care
for him at the end. Some of The Babe's actions showed that he almost didn't even know
the difference between right and wrong and lacked not only integrity, but also almost
every other virtue.
Through the example of Sammy Sosa and John Proctor, I have explained the virtue
of integrity and what it can do for a person. Through the example of George Ruth I
showed what can happen to people with no integrity at all. These two men proved
themselves to be honorable, sincere and honest, but they both showed that they had
integrity in their own different way. John Proctor proved that he had integrity by showing
he knew what was right and wrong and felt terrible guilt for doing wrong. Sammy Sosa
proved that he, too, had integrity by being a honorable man in the baseball league. George
Herman "The Babe" Ruth showed that he lacked integrity because of his inability to tell
right from wrong.