The Crucible is a 1953 play written by Arthur Miller. It is amplified and somewhat novelized story of the Salem witch trials. Miller wrote the play as a parable to the McCarthyism persecution of communist sympathisers. In this play, a group of Puritan girls are found dancing and conjuring with the devil in the forest. Soon the whole village of Salem knows about the dancing and starts accusing people of witchcraft. Innocent people who are incriminated under improper evidence are hanged. Parallel in the McMartin day care abuse case, the McMartin family, who administrate the establishment, and other members are accused illegally of having abused sexually numerously of the children under their vigilance. The accusations used against the McMartin …show more content…
The two main similarities were the outrageous accusations and mob mentality. The first main similarity was the outrageous accusations, where in The Crucible Abigail’s allegations are related with some accusations made by Judy Johnson. In both scenarios, the public depended on the children for instruction and whatever they said was taken as the truth. In the McMartin case, all the children refused that Johnson’s allegations were true. There is a quote that relates both trials: the public had to choose to trust one the accused or the accuser. Danforth: “Witchcraft is… an invisible crime, is not? Therefore who may possibly be witness to it? the witch and the victim.” The second similarity was the mob mentality. Mob mentality describes how people are influenced by their peers to accept certain behaviors, follow trends. In The Crucible the girls all followed Abby’s example and officials got involved well. In the McMartin parents and children started to follow Johnson’s example and make up stories about abuse. We also can see a lot of pressure between them both. In The Crucible many chose to admit and most of the time were pushed to give other names, meanwhile in the McMartin the police wanted parents to force answers out of their children don’t taking “no” for an answer. In both they made a lot of excuses, for example in The Crucible they said that the Putnams used witchcraft as an easy answer for the deaths of their children and to get land. In the McMartin they said that social workers, politicians, and priests used the allegation to their benefit to gain business and
Both events occurred around the 1950’s. The Crucible was a play written by Arthur Miller that was related to the movement led by Senator Joe McCarthy. Trying to seek and identify members of the communist party, a movement that hunted and ruined innocent people’s lives. When it came to the Witch Trials even if you were accused of witchcraft you
The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are alike and different in several ways: They share an importance of reputation, a conflicted male, and absolutist beliefs, while they differ by loyalties, town
“The Crucible” by Arthur Miller and The Red Scare share many characteristics. “The Crucible” describes the Salem Witch Trials. These trials were during a period of time where men and women were very rancorous so others feared to speak up because they would be accused of witchcraft and killed. Similar to Arthur Miller’s book, the Red Scare was a period of time in the late 40’s and 50’s in which United States citizens were intensely paranoid of an opposing threat of communism in Eastern Europe and Asia and ultimately communists infiltrating the United States. What the Red Scare and “The Crucible” have in common is that accusations of witchcraft or communism were false, people were blind to the truth, and the accusers weren’t very tactful and
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. Arthur Miller wrote the play because he was inspired by McCarthyism. McCarthyism was the hunt for communists that was taken too far. In The Crucible he presented a universal message. He was comparing how communists did exist and witches did not, but yet they were both taken as serious.
The times back then were terrible. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953 about The Salem Witch Trials of 1692.McCarthyism was the “witch hunt” for the communist in 1953.the parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism are naming names,lack of proof ,and reststance. The first reason they are parallel is because of naming names. Hollywood director Elia Kazan went in front of the HUAC twice. The first time he did not confess and names.
Hysteria in Salem The Crucible is a play written by American author, Arthur Miller, in 1953. It is a somewhat fictional play about the Salem Witch Trials. Miller wrote it as an allegory to the Red Scare, the promotion of fear of a potential rise of communism. Miller himself was blacklisted for refusing to testify in front of the HUAC, a committee that was created to investigate any person who might be a communist.
The main theme of The Crucible is vengeance. The people of the town of Salem weren’t united. They were distrusted towards each other and disliked each other. The girls began accusing other people they disliked for dealing with witchcraft during the court trials. For example, even though the
But it is a whore 's vengeance.” The Crucible is a play written in 1953 by Arthur Miller. It is based on the Salem Witch trials in February of 1692 and May of 1693. The trials were the product of the death of twenty innocents accused of witchcraft.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.
Miller’s purpose of The Crucible was to represent and mirror the social injustice under McCarthyism as people falsely accused each other because their fear, jealousy and solely hatred of one another. Although, around 1950-1954 the “innocent until proven guilty” clause existed, most trials and accusations were led by “guilty until proven innocent.” Despite Miller’s efforts to criticise people’s actions as
An example of this is salem is a puritan town this means that the church and the state are one, if you break a law in the church then you are also breaking a law in the state, also In Salem, everything and everyone belongs to either God or the devil; anything that is unlawful, is associated with satanic activity. An example of this is when ,Danforth says in Act III, “a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it.” which means that intolerance is playing a big part, because if you're not with them then you are a witch then you must be related with
“’She makes me drink blood”’ says Abigail (Miller 160). The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller. The play takes place during the Salem Witch Trials, where many people were accused of witchcraft. The accused were either jailed or hanged. In the play many characters are blind to the truth and are changing the path of life.
Reasons Behind The Crucible Arthur Miller’s main purpose in writing The Crucible was to show the similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Trials and to warn against government propaganda. At the time that The Crucible was published, America had a huge fear of communism. Anyone accused of having ties with the communist party was shunned. It much resembled the Salem Witch Trials in how the government, or leader of the time, used fear against the people to gain power. For example, Joseph McCarthy can be compared to Reverend Parris in how they both lead the people into the belief that there were intruders in their mists that had plans to sabotage the community.
More than 20 people were executed during the Salem Witch Trials between 1692 and 1693. The play The Crucibles written by Arthur Miller a historical fiction piece based on the Salem Witch Trials. The play shows the struggles of a small town with a big controversy with mob mentality and justice themes throughout the play. Mob Mentality or otherwise called Cult Mentality which is describing humans that have been influenced by their peers around them and move together as a whole or “herd”, they adopt such behaviors from the others apart of their group. Mob Mentality is shown in multiple parts of The Crucibles examples are when the girls are all dancing together in the woods taking part in the so called ritual which happens to be very much out
When people think of the play, “The Crucible”, they usually picture the witch trials and women being hanged, but Arthur Miller depicts the witch trials in a completely new light. He shows through a story that the witch trials were much more than just people calling others witches. There was deceit, pain, greed, and more. Through the play, we follow the character, Abigail, observe her actions and their consequences. We witness the lives of people she impacts, what happens to them, and how many times she lies to get her way.