Examples Of Mccarthyism In The Crucible By Joseph Mccarthy

Albert Einstein once said,“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” This quote shows the importance of human nature because most of the topics I researched all started by someone noticing something out of the ordinary and making it something it is not. Humans do not like change so when something happens that they are not use to, they do not know how to react. Some view it as stupidity, but to the person it is their only way to react. In witch trials for example, when someone is acting different they would declare them a witch and have the background information to prove it. They do not know if it is true or not, but it is what they would follow. The same for McCarthyism, the person who
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Some people hurt others to help them feel better about themselves. To began, Joseph McCarthy would accuse others of being associated with communism to make himself look better. When Joseph McCarthy first began searching, “he continued to investigate for over two years, relentlessly questioning numerous government departments and the panic arising from the witch-hunts and fear of communism became known as McCarthyism” (Latham). Joseph would accuse people and they would not be able to prove themselves innocent because everyone would believe McCarthy. If a person had the qualities to prove they were associated with communism it would ruin their life. After some time, people started to catch on to McCarthy: “Through the televised investigations into the United States Army and the reporters’ attack, the nation grew to realize that McCarthy was “evil and unmatched in malice” (Latham). People would do investigations and through those they found out the truth about Joseph McCarthy. This was done by one person, but it hurt hundreds of people. Hurting people can also be shown in The Crucible. After Abigail was
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People feel fear when they are uncertain of what is going on around them. Often times, “when people are afraid, they need to feel a sense of control. Often, control may be perceived when blame is cast and scapegoats are named. If there is someone to blame, then there is something we can do. Fear can lead to irrational postulations of immense proportions” (Hunter). Fear relates to all of the following characteristics in the previous paragraphs because fear can lead to both hurting people and jealously. This is also shown in The Crucible when Abigail says to Mercy, “(holding Mercy back). No, he’ll be comin’ up. Listen, now; if they be questioning us, tell them we danced—I told him as much already” (Miller 146). You could see and hear the fear in Abigail’s voice while she is talking to Mercy. She knows what she has done, but now that other people are figuring out what happen she is trying to find a scapegoat. This fear can cause Abigail to do things that will affect other people that should not have been involved. Fear is as aspect of human nature represented in The Crucible and modern day