Can the fear of people control the way certain things and events are looked at? In 1950 a nationwide historical campaign called McCarthyism took place. The campaign was against alleged communist in the U.S government and other institutions and accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence which was carried out by Joseph McCarthy. The primary targets were usually union activist, government employees, educators, and entertainment industry. Many people people lost their trust in others, causing a new outlook on life while relationships were destroyed.
The Manchurian Candidate is a movie based during the end of the Korean War in the early 1950’s. In the movie, Raymond Shaw, who was a U.S. soldier was brainwashed by communist. When he returns home to New York, Shaw and his commander Marco have recurring nightmares. Marco goes on to visit Shaw, and while that happens, Shaw’s mother runs the political career of her husband which is Shaw’s stepfather. Shaw’s mother is responsible for the brainwashing of her son so that she could help her husband with the presidential election.
The anti-communist movement were already planted into American culture by the time that McCarthy came to senater or offics. Fried contends that McCarthyism already existed in our country long before his arrival but it was his actions that brought the hysteria to a fever pitch. This era takes with it a long lasting legacy that historians have studied through the decades. One of the grimmest legacies deals with McCarthy 's victims. His careful selection of these individuals sheds some light on his tactics and his motives that tried to lead him to his ultimate
During McCarthy’s terms, he caused many predicaments, which led to many problems that never should have occurred. In the 1940’s and the 1950’s, during McCarthy’s term, communism became a tremendous scare in America. The theory of communism is, “The chosen few who are organized, disciplined, dedicated, and equipped with superior intelligence, but also has the understanding of
Later in the film the audience learns that Shaw was brainwashed due to his mother’s involvement and to secure Eleanor’s loyalty to the movement. During times in which a parent is working towards a goal such as Eleanor in The Manchurian Candidate, it truly shows the powers
During both Salem and McCarthy eras, their moral codes were not exactly used the right way. Long term relationships would come to an end, friends would turn against each other, or others would simply point fingers without having actual evidence. Usually the persecutors would be easily persuaded one was either a witch or a communist member. The search of any suspicion of either being a witch or communist would eventually lead to “ a hunt not just for subversive people, but for ideas and even a suspect language.” (Miller 2). The people’s moral instincts were damaged because of the chaos created from the situation.
He began an anti-communist movement in the United States known as McCarthyism. He took advantage of the mass anxiety throughout the country after a devastating war so he could gain power. His confident personality had few people worrying about his intentions and being in his presence was intimidating which lead no one to disagree with him. He had the power to have citizens fired from their job, sent to jail and end their life as they knew it because once a person was named a communist they were outcast from society. He went further to preach that anyone unamerican was a communist, which lead to the creation of the House Un-American Activities Committee.
I strongly agree with Roberts claim.Mccarthyism caused americans to turn against each other due to, fear, political reasons, and growing hysteria. Clearly, Mccarthyism stoked fear in americans. One reason for this is because people seeked higher power and would go to extremes just to obtain it. For example, “In 1949 when communists led by Mao Zedong took control of China and the soviets detonated an atomic bomb” (Roberts). Many feared the actions that Mao Zedong would take owing to the fact that he possessed all of China.
Senator McCarthy denounces more than two hundred government workers for being card-carrying communists. However, with the concerns of communism increasing in the East Asia and Europe, he believes that these accusations are justifiable due to the communists who allegedly infiltrated the U.S. government. “Known as McCarthyism, the paranoid hunt for infiltrators was notoriously difficult on writers and entertainers, many of whom were labeled as communist sympathizers and were unable to continue working” (213). These accusations are unjust to the people who are not actually communist sympathizers, it is difficult for one to speak up against these falsities. Furthermore, in The Crucible Francis Nurse explains to Danforth how the girls are just pretending.
In both of these readings the government is the blame for Germany’s severe loss. In Hindenburg’s Testimony, I personally don’t believe he actually gives any realistic reasoning for his opinion. He talks about how the government was manipulative in the way in which they made military decisions, however, he doesn’t actually give any evidence of this. He only really argues that the government restricted their ability to become stricter and more disciplined. One part of the reading that actually made me laugh was reading the lines that said “(Commotion and shouting)”.