Paranoia Salem Witch Trials

Acknowledging that most women in the witch trials were falsely accused of using magic to harm others, many feared for their lives as punishment would mostly lead to death. Governed cases favoured this issue through committing to personal interest instead of evaluating the individuals benefit. Optimizing the feeling of helplessness most victims were committed to pursue the witch trails given in order to confess. Following through one of the dialogues, we can determine that in Tituba’s case the responsiveness of the trail moreover shows the commitment of deny as for being the first accused woman to confess to witchcraft. Being the primitive confession, we can make assumptions that the court carried out an underlying statement hindering the emotional state of the person being implicated.

The crucible is a play based on a historical event that happened approximately 3 centuries ago. This plays talks about a small village (Salem) in Massachusetts that confronted a horrible event, witchcraft. Hysteria invaded people´s mind causing chaos around the village; their Puritan beliefs obligated them to do horrible things even if they did not wanted. Many people were condemned to prison, while others were hanged; the only way to save their souls was to confess their acts. Trials were made to many people that “supposedly” committed witchcraft; but, these trials were unfair.

Humankind, real or fictional, are constantly manipulating each other and looking to others to place blame and hate. The most common victims of this behaviour are the undesirable of society, the outcasts who are easy to hate and condemn. This is an issue that was portrayed by Arthur Miller in The Crucible as a reflection of his own times and horrors of McCarthyism, and still plagues modern society with equally disastrous consequences. In The Crucible, the fear of the devil spread like wildfire throughout the town of Salem, Massachusetts; the first victims of which were the undesirable and distrusted in their society.

A term that was developed during the 1950s as terror of communism grew and developed. The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the infamous “Salem Witch Trials of 1692”. Although fiction, it very well portrays what was going on at the time. These people cried out witchcraft against their neighbors, with alternate motives in the back of their minds.

In the play, The Crucible, Salem, Massachusetts, along with the United States during McCarthyism, is engulfed with paranoia. Although both situations include different causes, their effects are strikingly similar. For instance, throughout The Crucible, Abigail Williams is being shown repeatedly accusing innocent people of witchcraft. Her actions begin sending the small town into a panic as they throw people into jail and hang them in an effort to try and cleanse the town from any aspect of evil. Similarly, throughout 1950-1954, Joseph McCarthy falsely accused people within the United States Government of being a member of the Communist party.

The Salem girls should be punished for their acts of involuntary manslaughter because when they accused many of witchery even though they weren't witches, most of the accused were hanged. Evidence for this is during a conversation between Reverend Hale and Danforth , when Hale says “I have signed seventy-two death warrants”(Miller.239-243). Evidence shows that after many Court sessions the accused of the Salem girls were appointed to death by hanging which is involuntary manslaughter. The reason why Judge Danforth too should be punished, is that when Abigail left town with stolen money the trials should have ended but he kept continuing them. The evidence for Abigail leaving with stolen money is presented during a conversation between Parris and Danforth, when Parris says “My niece, sir, my niece - I believe she has vanished my strongbox is broke into....

All through history millions of individuals have been shunned, arrested, brutally tortured, prosecuted, and persecuted as witches. One would think that post colonization of the United States these unjust acts to human kind would have ended, but that was not so. In 1692 the Salem Witch Trials took place, an event that was a major catastrophe in United States history. It began when a group of young girls in Salem, Massachusetts declared that they were possessed by the devil and made accusations that several older women were practicing witchcraft and fraternizing with the Devil.

People have a tendency to fight for themselves and for what they believe in no matter what the cost. This is shown in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible when people in a village, named Salem, try kill their neighbors by blaming them for witchcraft. With characters such as John Proctor, he tries to bring justice to the town of Salem with all the false accusations with Reverend Hale. However with Judge Hawthorne, Abigail, Parris, Putnam, and the townspeople standing in their way, Proctor and Hale must fight through to bring justice. However in the end, 20 innocent people died because of people’s vengeance, hatred, and greed.

“If your name was placed on one of these blacklists, you could lose your job and your life and reputation could be ruined.” This quote shows how those accused of communism had their lives taken and ruined. In both the times of The Witch Trials and of McCarthyism, people could be falsely accused. There is a very obvious example in The Crucible when after confessing John Proctor says to Danforth, "Why must it be written? Why must I say it?"

The play “The Crucible” is about the Salem witch trials which happened around in the early 1600’s, basically people are falsely being accused and killed because lawyers and people think that they had something to do with the devil. The red scare happened in 1919, it’s a “hysteria over the perceived threat posed by communists in the United states became known as red scare,” (History.com Staff). Then, McCarthyism started, it’s basically “accusations heightens the political tension of the times,” (Arthur Miller). The United States are basically infiltrating people because they think that they had something to do with communism, many writers and actors are a

The Salem witch trails: The terrible case of witchcraft 2nd draft Heather Risley In Massachusetts during 1692, a case corrupted the nation (E.j. Wagner). People were being sent to jail for what they thought was witchcraft. Innocent people died all because of girls who were acting strange, like screaming, hurting themselves etc.; the girls seemed to be controlled by “witchcraft” (Stewart, 6-66).