The Crucible: An Allegory For Mccarthyism

His wife Elizabeth was accused of witchcraft by the young girls which meant that she would be arrested and most likely hanged. John Proctor had make mistakes in the past such as cheating on his wife which led him to make the ultimate sacrifice for his family and his name. John Proctor confesses to being a witch as he knows it is the only way he can save his wife Elizabeth from being arrested and killed. Proctor is seen as a tragic hero because he decides to not sign his confession as it would

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.

We often seen someone is only care about himself, they don’t care about others even their family and they always have excuse of it. Reverend Parris is a kind of this person. “The Crucible” is about the Salem witch trials. Starting with several young girls claim to be afflicted by witchcraft and then accuse people in the town of witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shapes Parris’s character as a very selfish person, and everything he did was to keep his good reputation in the village and to get rid of anyone against him, which drives him mad.

The main character, John Proctor, may seem to be a normal, middle aged man living in the Puritan town of Salem, but however, he holds a dark secret: he cheated on his wife with a girl named Abigail Williams. What he doesn 't know, is that by cheating with Abigail, he partly started the Salem witch madness; John makes Abigail very envious of his wife, and thus, she begins accusing others of dark sorcery and witchcraft. John, at first, is very reluctant to tell everyone the truth about why Abigail and other young girls are accusing his wife and other older women of being witches because he fears it will ruin his good name and reputation. However, after he realizes that the situation has truly gone out of control, he tries to confess his wrongdoing, but is only imprisoned and accused of witchcraft as well.

During the Witch Trials, Parris’ teachings also revolved more around Satan and a person’s sinful ways. Lastly, the final effect of the Salem Witch Trials was that it affected many individuals personally. Reverend Parris’ reputation became so horrible, they voted him out of the church. Then, John Procter was convicted of witchcraft and hung. Meanwhile, Abigail was driven out of town and thought to have become a prostitute in Boston.

When Abigail is accused of witchcraft, she confesses and in order to take blame off of herself, she accuses many others as well. This sparks hysteria and conflict in the society that ends up costing people their lives. Many characters play a part in the outcomes in the story, however, some do so with more impact. Women in The Crucible are able to take power in their society as they find ways to influence and manipulate those in authority.

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.

Mr. and Mrs. Putnam portray their fear of witchcraft in this event by believing that witchcraft exist even though they have no actual proof. In the article, Beware the Loss of Conscience; The Crucible as warning for today, by Judith A. Gerjak explains how as we lose ownership of our conscience there's consequences. This happens when Mrs. and Mr.Putnam portray their fear of witchcraft even though they have no proof. Gerjak comments, “Mass conscience which leads to mass hysteria

I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil” (Miller 1120). She even threatens to divulge her affair with John to the court because she thought it would make it more likely for Elizabeth to be convicted. Chillingworth’s character is just as vindictive, if not even more so, as Abigail. When he finds out that Hester has cheated on him, he is at first solely curious about who she cheated with.

After the witches initiate it, Macbeth and his wife’s greed leads them further down into ruin and despair. The guilt that Macbeth experiences afterwards leads him to committing suspicious actions. This guilt also makes Macbeth hallucinate the dagger and the ghost of Banquo. The outcome of Macbeth and his family might have been different if Macbeth never met the

In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller many characters turn on each other accusing them of witchcraft. Many people are getting hung by these false accusations, and the town is chaotic due to this. In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller shows that characters are motivated and will stop at nothing to get what they want. Miller shows this through the accusations made by Thomas Putnam, Judge Danforth, and Mary Warren.

The Salem Witch Trials were a gruesome series of hangings. These events happened during the 17th century in Salem, Massachusetts, hence the name. The Crucible tells the true story of various accusations that resulted in asphyxiation. Abigail Williams is responsible for most of the hysteria that went on in the story. Her lies caused a negative chain of events in the form of the hangings.

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.

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.

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.