Similarities Between The Crucible And The Spanish Inquisition

The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 may have been instigated by religious, social, geographic and even biological factors. During these trials, 134 people were condemned as witches and 19 were hanged. These statistics also include 5 more deaths that occurred prior to their execution date. It is interesting to look into the causes of this stain on American History, when as shown in document B, eight citizens were hanged in only one day.

Page 3 /4 Page 1 of 4 Richardson1 NaQuavius Richardson Mrs. Camp English III 26 February 2017 McCarthyism in the Crucible The Crucible showed many similarities towards the phenomena of McCarthyism in the 1950s. For example, The Crucible shows how the Salem Witch Trials mirrored McCarthyism.

Millions of people through history have been treated unfairly. During WWII, the Holocaust was one of the greatest atrocities of all time. People were also wrongly accused and punished during the witch trials in Salem that occurred during the 1600s. these two events have differences but they also have similarities as well.

Religion, a Major Role in Portraying the Characters’ Motive McCarthyism and Puritanism are two completely different groups, yet they both go hand in hand in The Crucible. McCarthyism is more of a practice and Puritanism is more classified as a lifestyle or religious choice. In The Crucible, religion is very prominent throughout the play and Arthur Miller makes that very clear. Each character is unique and has a range of different motives. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses religion has a major role in portraying each of the characters’ motives.

Arthur Miller in his article, “Why I Wrote The Crucible,” identifies his motives for creating The Crucible as a political allegory for the Second Red Scare and McCarthyism by making correspondences between the two time periods. Both the Salem witch trials and the Second Red Scare share similar factors and origins which developed each society into a place of hysteria. Mob mentalities rooted in fear gave the people reason to throw away their reason and follow public norms to put suspects on trial. The wrongfully convicted were urged to name others guilty of the same crime and continued false accusations which further perpetuated the trials. The absolutism of the courts caused many of the innocent to be assumed guilty by simple association or some false

People will make personal opinions within the first 5 seconds of seeing another person even if they does not know them. Sometimes people don't know that their making opinions. Sometimes those opinions are accurate, but most of the time they are not. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible this can be read first hand. In modern day society, people make accusations and opinions based on prior knowledge and experiences.

Historical reenacting is a complicated hobby or profession. One must be clear and understandable. Let us set the stage, a reenactor is someone who goes from one event to another dressing as someone in the past and acts as if they were that person at the event. A reenactor is at an event that is representing the 1860s during the American Civil War acting as President Abraham Lincoln. He is talking to a group of tourists about who he is, Abraham Lincoln, what he does, President of the United States of America, and why he does what he does, he is opposed to slavery and does not want it to spread.

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the townsfolk of Salem, Massachusetts are used to illustrate the religious beliefs and morals derived from the heavily practiced Puritanism. Puritanism centralizes on the belief that God and His worshippers have formed a sacred covenant, therefore, Puritans must always serve God justly to ensure His protection. Authors throughout history have inscribed various accounts of Puritans upholding their covenants with God, which include: encouraging separation between the rich and the poor, establishing dominance over easy targets, and exiling or correcting sinners. John Winthrop delves celebrates into the accepted inequality between Puritans in A Model Of Christian Clarity, William Bradford considers the Native Americans solely as instruments of God in The History of Plymouth Plantation, and witchcraft accusations fly Cotton Mather’s description of the want to remove the devil from New England inin Cotton Mather’s The Wonders of the Invisible World.

How does the concept of mob psychology in The Crucible affect the beliefs of the accusers and other civilians? Mob psychology plays a prevalent role in the beliefs and actions of the characters in Salem. What starts off as a series of simple accusations motivated by personal greed and revenge compounds through the sheer panic of the mob. Many people have seen their neighbours and friends become the target of accusations, and thus, a deeply distrustful attitude is created.

Religion is the belief in a higher power. It is something people hold onto, hold hope for, and put all their faith in. Government is the representation of a nation and its people; it is meant to accurately represent its people and their models, and beliefs. Theocracy, a religion based government. This is a common question for many people and a struggle for many nations across the country.

Tracing back to the 16th century witch hunting has been around causing the lives of many innocent people destruction. Witch hunting has never died off, it is still here today. In my opinion witch hunting will always exist and occur as long as we have fear, ignorance and jealousy. Many people were accused of being a witch or committing witch activity mainly throughout the 16th and 19th century. Primarily because people fear for what they don't know or can't understand.