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The Crucible Research Paper

1004 Words5 Pages

Brogan Fair Fair 1
Mr. Chase Glorfield
English 4B
1/3/2023

Why the attitude of the 1950s influenced Arthur Miller to write the Crucible.

Many things from the 1950’s influenced the writing of The Crucible by Arthur Miller. It does show evidence that the things he experienced in his time period were reflected in the play. His marriage experiences, communism and the red scare, and the attitude of the 1950’s can be seen in several of the writings in The Crucible.

"The Crucible" is a somewhat made-up situation that was about the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. During Arthur Miller’s time he was greatly affected by fear, lies, and throwing blame on innocent victims which was happening all around him in the McCarthy era. The trials in …show more content…

The Salem witch trials managed to kill many innocent people. These “mobs” or groups of people would convince each other that the person or people that were on trials were guilty. This is comparable to times in the 1950s when Joseph McCarthy had accused certain politicians and people serving the government at that time of practicing communism. These accusations led to many of them losing their jobs and society status.

The red scare in Millers time cause nationwide hysteria as did the Salem witch trials. In The Crucible the government began to turn from good and honest people to lying hypocrites. This is also what happened during the Red Scare. The public noticed, but whoever was brave enough to speak about it would be convicted so the people were afraid.

In the Crucible, the crazed people’s blaming and manipulating others is present in many instances. These accusations lead to mass hysteria and escalate throughout. One example in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is when Giles Corey is telling Hale what his wife was convicted of. He states, "Walcott charge her. Y'see, he buy a pig off my wife.. and the pig die soon after." (72). The idea of witchcraft has all the people of Salem so terrified. It caused them to believe that witchcraft is the reason to blame for everything bad at that time. So, if the pig dies, they believe that the only sensible conclusion is that Martha is a witch and her evil spells made it die. They become ridiculous with their …show more content…

In the 1950s because he was very upset when a friend of his said the names of the members of the American Communist Party. That upsetted Miller and he felt he could not trust anyone after this point. This also ties to the crucible because the people of Salem could not trust anyone at the time of the witch trials.

Then when he published the Crucible, it was a smash hit everyone loved it. Because it reminded them of the situation they were in at the time. The play was everywhere back then. Arthur Miller became a household name around the country.

In conclusion because of all these experiences that defined him he was able to write a play that is still enjoyed today. The main reason why people like this play to this day is because of the suspense, heartbreak and mass paranoia. The play was such a success and still is today is was because the author put some of his actual life experiences into the play. Which gave it some emotional attachment and it wasn't like every other play at the time, which makes it so unique so if you ever have some spare time maybe you should read The

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