Examples Of The Red Scare In The Crucible

Abigail and her group of friends around found in the forest doing witchcraft to get their love interest to fall for the however they are caught by her uncle Parris and instead of confessing and telling the truth she lies to her uncle Parris by claiming she was just dancing. Due to her act Abigail’s sister Betty is unconscious and the whole town is convinced it’s witchcraft, causing mayhem throughout the community also known as mass hysteria. In the book The Tipping point it states “... convinced that he is being contaminated by some unseen evil- in the past it was demons and spirits; nowadays it tends to be toxings and gases.” This is how mass hysteria is starts, a collective illusion which if clearly shown in the play. In the play Abigail proclaims, “She lies!

This quote helps explain how they assume everything is associated with the devil and everything is an attack against the court. This quote is a different one,“Abigail were stabbed tonight; a needle were found stuck into her belly.” This really did happen but they still exaggerated it. They were accusing everybody in town and finally they found out it was Proctor that did it. This quote is a bigger part of the story and it really was a turning point for the play.

Betty said “I saw George Jacobs with the Devil! I saw Goody Howe with the Devil”(45), despite whether they were innocent are not. The quote shows that Abigail could tell the girls anything and they would say or do it, even if it meant accusing innocent people. In Act 3, the narrator says “she [Abigail] and all the girls ran to one wall, shielding their eyes and now as though concerned, they let out a gigantic scream”(109). The quote shows how much influence Abigail had over the girls, enough to make them act in ridiculous ways, similar to McCarthy 's impact on the government and how much power he had and in this way, Miller used Betty as an allegory for the government under McCarthy’s

She starts accusing people that she doesn’t like of practicing witchcraft, including Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth Proctor is John Proctor’s wife, and Abigail doesn 't like her because she wants to be with John, who she had an affair with. Abigail thinks that by accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft Elizabeth will be killed and then she can finally be with John. During these witch trials, many other people were accused and blamed for things that they did not do. It was mostly because of Abigail and her friends were lying about innocent people doing witchcraft.

The presence of the Devil causes a sort of fear about the future for him, and what will happen to his life if he is convicted of witchcraft in his household. The fear of people rising the Devil, in their religious society, causes people in act in outrageous ways to cleanse the society. Throughout the act, people have taken interest in Betty, and Ruth (The Putnam’s child) as they are seen to be witches. The popular interest in the children is caused by the fear of the power of the Devil. If one is touched with the Devil, they are extremely sick, and cannot be bared; “I’d not call it sick; the Devil’s touch is heavier than sick.

Arthur Miller, a prominent twentieth century playwright, is well-known for his play The Crucible. The play opens in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. The Puritan religion is against dancing and singing because the Puritans believe these are sensuous activities. The Puritans also believe that Satan tempts human beings to carry out his work. Fear and hysteria strike Salem over the belief that the devil is in the town because Parris’s niece, Abigail Williams, was found dancing in the forest with other girls and Parris’s servant; and soon after two young girls fall sick.

In order to save herself from extensive consequences when the society had found out about her eating of the chicken blood in the forest, she is forced to blame someone for her wrongdoing. With this, Tituba comes close to her death, as it is intolerable for any Puritan to take play in witchcraft or consult with the Devil. Abigail claims that Tituba always “comes to [her] while [she] sleep[s] [and that] she's always making [her] dream corruptions!” (44). Although this is untrue, the Devil is placed in a situation of crime, which raises his level of power, as he is the one who is known to force people into performing sinful acts when they are under his influence.

Later in the story Tituba under the pressure of the court confest which ignited a hunt for witches. in both the salem witch trials and the red scare people where both paranoid of something. At the time of the witch trials the people were afraid of evil spirits, and the devil if you were accused of being a witch you would lose almost everything you owned. With the power of the church the people of Salem where easy overpowered by Propaganda and hysteria, with this people started so claim any was a witches for power, land, and even political strength. “We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!”

" I want to open myself! I want the light of God; I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osborn with the Devil!

Power, the ability to maintain control, command, or authority over others can often be determined by one’s reputation and his or her persuasiveness. This principle is displayed within The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, in which follows the town of Salem, Massachusetts attempting to navigate through a “Witchcraft” outbreak supposedly lead by the Devil. Within such a theocratic society such as Salem, the Devil is often associated with death, fear, and uncertainty. While his name alone is often believed to be able to influence others in to following through in certain actions. The Devil, as a key figure behind the immense “witchcraft” occurring in Salem, is crafted by Miller as the most influential “character” due to his infamous reputation and his ability to control characters’ actions.

The trials also had a major political aspect, as there was an attempt to incriminate Earl of Bothwell in the proceedings. In 1597, James published Daemonologie, his rebuttal of Reginald Scot’s skeptical work, The Discoveries of Witchcraft, which questioned the very existence of witches. Daemonologie was a pessimistic book, presenting the idea of a vast conspiracy of satanic witches threatening to undermine the

Post World War II the United States was suffering from what is called “Red Scare”. The Red scare was a propaganda tactic to make the American public fear the communist countries. This propaganda was fueled further by the Korean War and the Cold War. This was fueled by a congressman by the name of Joe McCarthy. President Harry Truman also added on to this propaganda as well.

Because of a servant telling the children of the town of sorcery and the devil, they began to believe what they had heard. The town was scared of the “possessed” people, thinking that killing them would stop the problem. Sadly, over 24 men, women and children died because they were assumed to have possessed by the devil. Bridget Bishop was the first accused and was hung on June 10, 1692. Many followed, until the court overruled the judgement of the mayor.

The story of the Crucible itself tells of how reckless complete faith in God can be. While religion isn 't necessarily a bad thing, nor a characteristic shared by incorrect people, it can lead to inessential and unjust actions when taken into accord too strongly. Say the girls ' confession may have been true, and the sickened ones could have been truly ill from the touch of the Beelzebub. Where would it take society in the future? Although the one incident was riddled with truth and Satan was as real and as present as tax collectors, the world today would be filled with declarations of children being possessed by the Devil when they had nothing but the modern day stomach flu.

Austin Storie Mrs. Call American Literature January 31, 2016 Red Scare: The Era of Mass Hysteria Imagine being disowned from your family, losing your job, and facing jail time over an untrue rumor. That situation may seem farfetched, but it was a reality for some during the Red Scare. While government action during the Red Scare was intended to protect democracy, it did more harm than good.