Comparing The Crucible And Mccarthyism

In 1953, Arthur Miller wrote the famous play The Crucible, in response to a fear of Communism The “Red Scare”, was led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, who was afraid of communist takeover. The Crucible a play in which Arthur Miller changes some events of the Salem witch trials of 1692 to the problems that were happening in his own society. In this essay we’ll see the ties between The Crucible, McCarthyism , The witch trials and Puritans. Arthur Miller, was born in Harlem, New York City, NY on October 17, 1915 to parents of Polish and Jewish descent. His father was successful coat manufacture.

The play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, mimics the red scare in the 1950’s about the spread of communism using the Salem witch trials to represent how the people of the United States acted toward the spread of communism. Arthur Miller used parody, exaggeration and irony well to break down the way America acted in the 1950’s towards the red scare. Arthur Miller used parody well in The Crucible by showing how it relates to the red scare. Danforth says “Danforth. Now hear me, and beguile yourselves no more.

The Crucible History is bound to repeat itself. Events in history can always be parallel to modern examples. This is a frequent occurrence and it is natural progression of history. Of course these parallels aren’t flawless. As such making a social commentary alluding to one event through the perspective of another may require some invention of facts.

Individuals must stand in opposition to collective injustice. By the end of the summer in 1692, twenty three innocent citizens of Salem, Massachusetts had lost their lives to the tyranny of the Salem witch hunts. By the end of the year 1956, countless U.S. citizens were victims of a second witch hunt which destroyed careers, friends, and lives. This is why there should be opposition against collective injustice. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible innocent people were getting accused and punished for witchcraft, when in fact they were not guilty.

Paranoia is a great motive and a sufficient drive for people. As Newton’s law states, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This was the most probable case that happened in the Red Scare back in the 1950’s. This tragedy that happened began with a United States Senator James McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities proclaiming and dictating that Communists had infiltrated the government and even society as well. Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible began with the pretense that these trials were more or less something of a comical sense.

Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. He wrote this because he had a story to tell, a story about modern issues which is individual freedom versus conformity. During the 1950s there was a period of political dispute in America, many were suspected of being communist and were put under investigation which was led by senator Joseph McCarthy, even though the play was dated back to 1693 there was a parallel between the Salem Witch Hunts which was described in the play and the general political atmosphere in the 1950s. Arthur Miller was summoned by the “House of committee” on Un-American activities, he was accused of being a communist, and he also refused to name others as a communist, he was sentenced to thirty days in jail. In the overture

Period4 The Crucible Essay Communism and Witchcraft have the same effect on humans, that effect is fear, when you hear fear you think of your worst nightmare or someone hiding in your closet, during the McCarthyism era and the salem witchcraft people had fear about whether their life is on the line or not. It all depended on one person in their community whether or not they choose to save their life. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red Scare in the McCarthy era because the girls feared Abigail just like everyone feared J.McCarthy, Elizabeth being accused is similar to McCarthy accusing the US Army, they are innocent just like Elizabeth.

Sam Robert’s article, “A Decade of Fear” explains how McCarthyism turned Americans against each other by generating mass hysteria and dealing with the situation in an unprofessional manner. McCarthy generated mass hysteria when he publicly accused 205 people of being a part of the communist party during one of his speeches. The author states “... news of McCarthy’s accusation against the State Department of President Harry Truman sent shock waves across the nation…. and eventually made his name synonymous with a decade-long period of investigations- labeled ‘witch hunts’ by his critic- to uncover Communist infiltration in American life.” The authors point is that since McCarthy made his accusations public, he caused the nation to be frenzy.

Miller received a large amount of scrutiny for writing "The Crucible". At the time of its establishment, "The Crucible" was highly controversial. The Crucible 's controversy largely had to do with not only the plot itself, but also the underlying message. Unfortunately, satire closely related to society 's flaws were not popular at the time. Due to extreme scrutiny, Miller considered quitting writing

Arthur Miller’s inspiration for his play The Crucible resulted from his observation of the repetition of “witch trials" throughout history. All of these witch-hunts, especially the one that occurred in Salem, were bred from the political and social repression present in the communities. This communal repression influenced a hypocritical mindset, which then prompted some individuals to manipulate others’ fear in order to gain a breath of personal freedom. Through comparing the Red Scare to the trials of Salem and analyzing the repetitive nature of these horrific acts, Miller emphasizes the idea that it is human nature for people to turn to the manipulation of fear in order to liberate themselves from their present reality.