Red Scare Vs The Crucible

With Abigail's careless act, the town is in despair, every time she would create a lie it would turn people against each other. Even when these group of people have been living with each other years, with one action from Abigail they are automatically believing each person is associated with the Devil. Questioningly, Abigail says “Why? Why do you come, yellow bird?” (Miller.3.991). Once again, Abigail uses spectral evidence to get her way.

During The Crucible, the Witch Trials caused many court hearings. A good deal of the court hearings consisted of people over exaggerating outbursts of demons inside of them just to get somebody convicted. The Witch Trails also affected the church in many ways. Reverend Parris’ already had a wicked reputation as their minister, and the trials made it even worse. People wanted him out of the church.

“The Crucible” by Arthur Miller and The Red Scare share many characteristics. “The Crucible” describes the Salem Witch Trials. These trials were during a period of time where men and women were very rancorous so others feared to speak up because they would be accused of witchcraft and killed. Similar to Arthur Miller’s book, the Red Scare was a period of time in the late 40’s and 50’s in which United States citizens were intensely paranoid of an opposing threat of communism in Eastern Europe and Asia and ultimately communists infiltrating the United States. What the Red Scare and “The Crucible” have in common is that accusations of witchcraft or communism were false, people were blind to the truth, and the accusers weren’t very tactful and

They believed in God, and much more, The Devil. They believed that the Devil had entered Salem and that caused fear. They were afraid and needed something or someone to explain what was happening. Fear can do many things and one of them is to believe anything so that an answer can be found. The witch trials started when Abigail and the girls started accusing the other women in Salem, Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, and Elizabeth Proctor.

Those who would admit to being a witch would go to jail, but for those who denied having interaction with the devil would have been trialed and hung, so really, anyway you put it it’s a lose-lose situation. Things like politics, religion, imaginations, and fear of people were just some of the main factors of what aided people into believing that Satan was upon the town of Salem. They believed that the humans were with devil and doing as he said which in turn gave them the power to harm others. One girl named Tituba was trying to save herself by confessing to witchcraft. She didn’t just confess but she also accused many other women about being witches and she said that they all were in the “hands of Satan”.

The Indictment this is what you could say the Salem witch trials were all about and this is how Abigail got people found guilty and excommunicated from the church. She scared all of her friends to lie and it almost made them seem subservient to her. She was the first accuser and accused Tituba and after that everything went downhill. The judges seemed like they had a lot of predilection towards her and did not want to listen to the people that were accused unless they admitted to witchcraft. An example of this is Tituba confessed so she was not hanged but she accused many people too just so she could save herself.

What Really Happened in Salem in 1692? In the extremely religious puritan community, Salem, people were brainwashed to believe everything they heard from the head of the church. There were strong beliefs and paranoia about the devil which influenced the way the events of the Salem Witch Trials played out In this society, the belief in the devil was very common, making everyone on edge about who might be a witch. The devils presence was “felt everywhere, and when the colonists began to like for his new hiding places they found him crouches in the very heart of the Puritan colony” (Erikson 2). Religion was a major factor to why many people were accused of being a witch since the puritans were paranoid about the devil being everywhere.

In Ann Putnam’s deposition, she believed she had seen the apparition of a minister. She was terrified, thinking it was a witch, and immediately wrote a letter to the court telling them of her apparition (doc c). Not only were the people of Salem stating false facts, the women were forced to take all of their clothing off so the hierarchy men could look to see if she had the mark of the devil (doc G). These accounts show that if the Puritans believed something was real, they would stop at nothing to find

“She has an eerie sense of how to manipulate others and gain control over them.” Abigail William was a big deal, not only did she have an affair with an older man who was married, she also accused three innocent women of being witches. She was a savage, angry teenager who everyone thought was an angel. According to Shmoop, “Abigail flirts with John Proctor. She tries to get him to admit that he still wants her and expresses anger toward his wife for “blackening” her name in the village.” As we can see, Abigail Williams wasn't the kindest person out there. Perhaps if she wasn't such a jerk history would have happened

The Evil practices and sins will cast chaos in the town of Salem from one person. For the most part, Abigail Williams stirred up drama and made her move by accusing Goody Proctor and changes her behavior constantly to ruin Elizabeth’s marriage. Elizabeth points out “I am sure she does—and thinks to kill me, then to take my place. (Miller 170) The conflict of lust and obsessive nature is evident from Abigail and Elizabeth proctor knows she is in danger during the witch trials. Chaos and false accusations from Abigail corrupted everyone in Salem to

Due to this belief, they were inclined to make some of the most improbable explanations to the situations that were occurring. Multiple cases were filed after the 9-year old Elizabeth and 11-year old Abigail were diagnosed. The behavior consisted of uncontrollable fits and screaming. After the community found out about the first diagnosis, everyone was afraid of the people and their family because they thought they would catch whatever they had. Not much later, the first witch was hung.

Both situations spiraled out of control because of ignorance and the use mob mentality. A person who sympathized with Communists was persecuted, just as if someone tried to defend the accused witches of Salem. Parallel to the Salem Witch Trials, the McCarthy Trials accused hundreds of innocent people of being Communists without any proof. Like Salem, if the accused confessed to communism, they would be blacklisted from their community, but not jailed. Sir William Phips was the Governor of Massachusetts at the time of the salem Witch Trials, and he refused to stop the trials until one of the accusers targeted his wife.

Around the time of the witch trials, the people in Salem were very religious. Rumors were easily spread and it was nearly impossible to prove yourself innocent if people were talking about you otherwise. During the witch hysteria, innocent people were imprisoned and and executed because someone has accused them of being a witch. It is understandable that some would accuse others to save themselves from imprisonment or from possible death. However, I believe Abigail should be held responsible for the imprisonment and execution of innocent people because she threaten the girls, so they would act bewitched and she also lied about getting stabbed by a needle and making it look like as if Elizabeth Proctor did it with witchcraft.

People were so full of fear that they would do anything to eliminate their anxiety. The McCarthy hearings of the 1950s reenacted the hysteria of the Salem witch trials of 1692 by spreading mass fear of prosecution, creating false accusations, and blacklisting people. The Salem witch trials were considered to be America 's most notorious episode of witchcraft hysteria. Many innocent people were killed as a result of false accusations, and many other women were put through trials to determine if they were witches. All of the evidence that was given, in other circumstances, would be deemed unreasonable.

This kindled a powerful hatred that Abby had towards Elizabeth that would soon cause much more than a little harm. Once the idea of witchery took deep root into the hearts of the people, many were accused and arrested. Out of the selfishness of her heart, Abigail accused Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft in an attempt to be rid of her so she could have John. She kept telling herself that she was in love with him, and she would use any opportunity to her advantage to be rid of Elizabeth. This however, would not bode well with John.