Similarities Between The Crucible And Mccarthy

Can the fear of people control the way certain things and events are looked at? In 1950 a nationwide historical campaign called McCarthyism took place. The campaign was against alleged communist in the U.S government and other institutions and accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence which was carried out by Joseph McCarthy. The primary targets were usually union activist, government employees, educators, and entertainment industry. Many people people lost their trust in others, causing a new outlook on life while relationships were destroyed. McCarthyism was caused by the fear of the people due to past events.

In one's journey to power, individuals manipulate people and situations for political advantage. This view is reflected in Arthur Miller's 1953 play, 'The Crucible', an historical play based on events of the Salem witchcraft trials, that took place in a Puritan society in Massachusetts in 1692. Similarly, Kevin Rudd's 2008 speech, apologising to the indigenous Australia communities for past government policies, stemmed from a need to right past wrongs. Both texts explore how individuals and groups often manipulate political situations to serve their own ends and coerce others.

Although, many people that were condemned weren’t actually apart of the Communist Party, (under McCarthyism around 1950-1954) they got blacklisted or lost their jobs. This social injustice is also portrayed in The Crucible as its characters face the Salem Witch Trials. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as his own reaction to the injustice of McCarthyism. Miller’s purpose was to show how people accused each other with false denunciations because of their fear, jealousy and solely hatred of one another under 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.

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. Both scenarios spiraled out of control due to people who became paranoid that most of the government were made up of communists and it would destroy the United States of America. Also, with

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.

The Salem witch trials proved to be one of the most cruel and fear driven events to ever occur in history. Many innocent people were accused of witchcraft, and while some got out of the situation alive not everyone was as lucky. Arthur Miller the author of The Crucible conveys this horrific event in his book and demonstrates what fear can lead people to do. But the reason as to why Arthur Miller felt the need to write The Crucible in the first place was because the unfortunate reality that history seemed to have repeated itself again. In the article “Are You Now or Were You Ever”, Arthur Miller claims that the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trials were similar and he does this through his choice of diction, figurative language, and rhetorical questions.

During the time that Arthur Miller created the Crucible, America was dealing with a very similar problem compared to the Salem witch trails. This problem was called McCarthyism, it was believed that a few hundred communists had entered the country, and they posed a threat to American safety. The accusations of communists in the country caused mass paranoia among the entire United States. Arthur Miller was one of them accused of being a communist and was trialed for it, which most likely lead to the creation of his play the Crucible. After the end of both events - the Salem witch hunt and McCarthyism - the effects afterward left devastating results and lingered for many more years to come. During the 1950’s McCarthyism was a widespread problem reflected in the Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, in hope to warn and prevent mass hysteria developing in the United States.

In Arthur Miller 's play The Crucible, false accusations and fear are used to imprison and kill many people accused of being witches. In this way, The Crucible stands as an allegory for McCarthy 's communist hunt, during which many people were also killed and imprisoned due to accusations of communism. By comparing McCarthyism to the Salem Witch Trials, Miller is able to communicate that people should not conform to societal trends because these trends may be misleading and cause innocent people to get hurt. Many characters in The Crucible serve as allegories to McCarthy 's communist hunt, specifically Abigail Williams, Giles Corey, and Betty Parris.

Hysteria, paranoia, and delusion was what drove the Salem Witch trials in 1692. Many people were executed by decision of the court because it believed in absurd false allegations. Justice in the court was perverted by fear and delusion (Johnson 9). In the 1940s and 1950s, many people in the United States were living in fear of communism; similar to those who feared “witches” in Salem. In the 1953, Arthur Miller came out with a play: The Crucible based on the Salem Witch Trials tackling McCarthyism; accusing others of being communists trying to overthrow democracy in the United States (9-10). Arthur Miller was a playwright and a political activist speaking up addressing societal issues. One of his most well-known works being The Crucible, addressed McCarthyism and its absurd purpose. Miller, creator of The Crucible was blacklisted, and accused of being a communist along with many other entertainers (“Arthur Miller”). Through all this ignorance and delusional fear, Arthur Miller was inspired to explore the similarities and parallels of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism.

The times back then were terrible. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953 about The Salem Witch Trials of 1692.McCarthyism was the “witch hunt” for the communist in 1953.the parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism are naming names,lack of proof ,and reststance.

Arthur Miller constructs his play upon the famous Salem witch trails. Miller's Crucible was written in the early 1950s. Miller wrote his drama during the brief reign of the American senator Joseph McCarthy whose bitter criticized anti- communism sparkled the need for the United States to be a dramatic anti- communist society during the early tense years of the cold war. By orders from McCarthy himself, committees of the Congress commenced highly controversial investigations against communists in the U.S similar to the alleged Salem witches situation. Convict communists were ordered to confess their crime and name others to avoid the retribution. The new decision led to a cyclone of accusations because people realized the possibility of their condemnation regardless they were guilty or innocent. Many helped that system by untrue confessions to save their lives. Miller, among others, refused to surrender to questioning. People who were revealed communists suffered greatly (Bly 2-5).

The Crucible is a story by Arthur Miller this story was released during the Mccarthyism era and is written to relate what is going on during Mccarthyism time and compared to what had happened during the time of the Salem witch trials. The setting or the crucible will impact the characters, the plot and the tone of the story.

Almost every kid in school has read a passage or a story, and never really understood the purpose of learning the topic in school. The teachers expect us to do the work, and hopefully understand it, but we never truly understand why we learned such a topic or event. The Crucible is a prime example on what students read in school, or why we’re obligated to read the book. The crucible and McCarthyism have many similarities that many people over look, and don’t realize, and connects more than we perceive.

Arthur Miller’s main purpose in writing The Crucible was to show the similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Trials and to warn against government propaganda. At the time that The Crucible was published, America had a huge fear of communism. Anyone accused of having ties with the communist party was shunned. It much resembled the Salem Witch Trials in how the government, or leader of the time, used fear against the people to gain power. For example, Joseph McCarthy can be compared to Reverend Parris in how they both lead the people into the belief that there were intruders in their mists that had plans to sabotage the community.