Pandemonium can dictate a country’s or settlement’s future when not taken under control. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, perfectly illustrates the downsides of pandemonium, but also a real life event. In 1950s America, the Communist Party was sparking outrage and chaos that soon the United States would face a fascist government. Both situations lead to tension in society and people turning their backs against each other. In “Are You Now or Were You Ever?”, also written by Arthur Miller, the online article discusses the reasons to why Miller wrote the book such as the similarities to the Communist Party in America to the Salem Witch Trials, play scripts, actors, and the paranoia in society. Miller’s argument is that the Salem Witch Trials …show more content…
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. It will go to the extent of even ruining a person’s reputation. But that was in the McCarthy Era. During the Salem Witch trials, “ Anyone standing up… and denying that witches existed would have faced immediate arrest, ...possibly the rope.” (Miller 25). In the 1690s, no one could express their true thoughts on the situation or they would meet their demise. The ethics for Salem and the McCarthy era were unjustified because of he outrageous trials and terrible assumptions. Miller saw a comparison because both had the people turning their backs on to each other during an unorganized time and the overall …show more content…
Throughout the article, there are series of questions that would emphasize the idea said in a paragraph. For example, in the Salem settlement, a question was towards the end of the paragraph which said, “ How else could his endless reappearances always come as such a marvelous surprise?” (Miller 52). This question is saying that how could the Devil’s appearances be such a surprise if it is often. In other words, this is asking why is something that recurs often always a surprise despite of it always repeating
The Crucible and McCarthyism are not all that different. They were both very dangerous and evil events that have happened, which have ruined many people. In The Crucible, There were many people that were trying to save themselves or another person by using others. John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth was accused and sent off to sit in jail until she hangs or confesses. John did not want his innocent wife to be hung for something she did not do.
Layton Creasey English 11 Mrs. Becky Mitchell October 18, 2016 How Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism In this Process essay the reader will learn how the Salem Witch Trials are like McCarthyism. The reason they are similar is because both have mob mentality. The Salem Witch Trials started in 1690s when the Trials began. Over 200 people accused of witchcraft.
The entire time a young group of girls were victims of by church authorities the accusations of people in their village. This time reflects the rise of the Holy Roman Catholic Church when non believers were labeled as heretics. Anyone not believing in the church doctrines was labeled and sent to the Inquisition Court Once these accusations were made about the girls people they were hung without evidence of committing witchcraft or worshiping the devil. McCarthy was doing the same witch hunts with a lot of investigations and hearings and figuring out how to find the problem with having traitors and spies in our country's government. Post World War II there was hysteria that the United States would be infiltrated by Communists.
McCarthyism McCarthyism is a terrible way of thinking, creates a negative environment, and is relatable to the Salem Witch Trials. To begin, McCarthyism is making assumptions without credible evidence. McCarthy demonstrates this when he gave a speech at the Ohio County Women’s Republican Club in Wheeling, West Virginia: “Waving a piece of paper in the air, he declared that he had a list of 205 known members of the Communist Party who were “working and shaping policy” in the State Department.” (History.com) Next, McCarthy created an environment that everyone was scared to have his or her own opinions in. Everyone just conformed to what McCarthy said: “President Truman vetoed the Act (McCarran Internal Security Act)-he said it “would make a mockery
In times of fear and hysteria in the U.S. it is mass chaos and it only gets worse and worse. During the time of both the witch-hunt eras, whether for communist or actual witches, they prove to have many similarities between them. Both of these times were full of confusion and lying which lead to the temporary downfall of the authority at that time. Joseph McCarthy proved to be a factor in this time and add on to the chaos that was America. Arthur Miller wrote about these times in a book called The Crucible, based on the witch trial era.
McCarthy’s battle of religion in the government is similar to the battle of religion in The Crucible. To explain, the Christian people of Salem are on a witch hunt because they feel as if they are doing God’s work. Many people are accused of being witches and this forms a “war” in Salem. For example, “I saw Sarah Good, Goody Osburn, Bridget Bishop with the Devil!”(Miller
He devalued the witches of the trials because he didn’t live through them while he did live through The Red Scare. Though the hysteria of the witch trials were very real. The people of the time were just as paranoid and fearful as Miller and his contemporaries were of the Communists. John Ditsky explains the dynamic of Salem’s Hysteria. “We ought not overlook the fact that the Salem trials were a manifestation of a popular hysteria excited by at least partially genuine causes.(Ditsky, Stone, Fire and Light: Approaches to The Crucible)”
When people are placed under an intense feeling of fear, they begin to commit actions they never thought they were capable over. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a young group of girls commit witchcraft which eventually leads to the arrest of over 100 women. This is similar to a time in the 1950s when Joseph McCarthy accuses government officials of communism and that ultimately leads to hundreds of citizens losing their jobs. The Crucible reveals the similarities between The Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s and McCarthyism of the 1950s because it demonstrates how a society can be tremendously impacted by the feeling the fear.
Shawn Jande Ms. Clancy American Literature B3 15 November 2015 The Crucible Analytical Essay Imagine, being accused of a crime you didn’t commit by your neighbors and friends out of jealousy, and desire. This is what many people in the town of Salem had to go through during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. People's motives such as: gaining and maintaining power, and aspirations for what other people had caused them to make irrational, and atrocious decisions. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, desire and power drive characters to create chaos in the community.
Often times there’s a point in a person’s life where one wonders if they’re crossing the red line when it comes to reaching their goals. When the lines a drawn and crossed, people suffer, much like the 20 sad souls who were executed in the Salem witch trials, or the 205 falsely accused state department officials. False accusations that ended and ruined people’s lives have been going on for ages like the examples before. Either for self-preservation or to cheat their way up, these things have always been embedded in human nature. Just like in Arthur Miller’s, The crucible, Abigail William’s false accusations propelled the community into its own demise, which also happened when McCarthy doomed 205 members of the state department with his accusations.
McCarthyism and The Crucible caused a feeling of hysteria and paranoia in all the people that were accused and others that were not accused. Abigail Williams and McCarthy had no evidence on the people accused except rumors that were
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
The McCarthy hearings and the Salem witch trials accurately represent the saying, "Desperate times call for desperate measures. " In the 1950s, the McCarthy hearings tainted lives by falsely accusing those in the film industry of being associated with Communism. In the 17th century, the Salem witch trials charged innocent villagers of practicing witchcraft. Victims from the McCarthy hearings were isolated and ruined, while victims from the Salem trials were hanged and shunned.
Joseph McCarthy insisted communist spies were holding governmental positions when he discerned he could control the public with fear (Association, The Independence Hall). Reverend Parris, along with other members of the church holding high positions, insisted witchcraft was to blame for the young girls’ actions (Miller, Arthur). Both of these examples involved a situation where a member of the community that people trust used the power of their position to persuade and command the people. The weight of their opinion was abused to keep their high
Arthur Miller’s play, “The Crucible,” and Bob Dylan’s song, “The Times They are A-Changin’,” effectively present their course of action through dramatised staging features and musical and poetic devices respectively. The composers of these texts and the characters portrayed in them seek to manipulate and coerce others in an attempt to acquire their own true