The Second Red Scare

The play “The Crucible” is about the Salem witch trials which happened around in the early 1600’s, basically people are falsely being accused and killed because lawyers and people think that they had something to do with the devil. The red scare happened in 1919, it’s a “hysteria over the perceived threat posed by communists in the United states became known as red scare,” (History.com Staff). Then, McCarthyism started, it’s basically “accusations heightens the political tension of the times,” (Arthur Miller). The United States are basically infiltrating people because they think that they had something to do with communism, many writers and actors are a

The Crucible, is a story of mayhem, deceits, and riot. It is a classic example of how lust and vengeance affects the reality in which we find ourselves in. In The Crucible, the desire for revenge and the resulting spreading panic led to many innocent deaths. It is written to mirror a world where the fear of communism is so widespread - that citizens are arrested on no-solid grounds, and the disruption of daily life and death are prevalent. In short it is a clear example of McCarthyism – or making accusations without the proper regard for evidence.

“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

Lawson was a communist and had been since 1934, but he refused to answer any of the questions that HUAC had asked. He said, “You are using old technique, which was used in Hitler Germany in order to create a scare here--” (L 57-58). While this is showing HUAC was trying to create a scare to the people, he was proving a point that their scare wasn 't scaring Lawson. HUAC was a very powerful committee who accused many Hollywood producers of being communist. These accusations caused loss in Hollywood business because Americans began to be fearful that Hollywood was communist and they didn 't want to give any of their money to people who were not of what they believed.

If The Witch Don’t Fit, You Must Acquit In “The Crucible” 1953 written by Arthur Miller, wrote that hysteria in any place can ruin lives. The year is 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. In Salem at the time it was a modest town brimming with Puritans. In the town of Salem, little secrets, jealousy and massive hysteria spread around the town. The cause of all this?

Nobody dared to contradict them out of fear, fear of being accused. Both Abigail and McCarthy brainwash society by saying we must purge our society of this evil made society believes that they were serving a greater purpose in both events people were blinded and Took in over by fear they were afraid of being tainted by the evil one they would have believed that their own mother/father was a communist year which is the finger of truth pointed that way The moral code was very strict in the 1950s and during the events in Salem is not followed you to have to deal with being communists are which and that would either get you killed hanged or

And Goody Osburn…”(Miller 46-47) This moment shows the Putnams large role in the blaming of witchcraft because after they ask about a name people respond with those exact names although the blaming wasn’t real. Another person who contributed to the witchcraft hysteria is Reverend Parris. Samuel Parris was quick to blame and quick to make bad remarks about people he didn’t like. Most of all Parris wants to keep up his reputation so if word got out that he niece was acting like a barbarian in the woods he would be shamed upon. In the play Parris says, “If you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.” This quote

Crucible Synthesis Essay The idea of ¨witchcraft hysteria¨ is still around in today 's world, it goes back to the Puritans hanging people for practicing ¨witchcraft¨, McCarthyism, and racial gun violence across the United States. This can be seen through these events, that fear is the main cause of the world 's uncontrollable emotions. One, such as racial gun violence brings in a lot of heated contention due to it being considered one of the worldś most uncontrollable issues today. Therefore, that is why todayś ¨witchcraft hysteria¨ is very violent, due to the cause of racial gun violence across the United States. In NBCś news source, it talks the recent killings in Charleston, South Carolina.

Therefore, Arthur Miller’s arguably most famous work, The Crucible, was influenced by the paranoia of communism in the 50s and his personal relationships. Those who’ve read or seen The Crucible would make the obvious assumption that the play is based on the Salem witch trials. In 1692, the Puritans in Salem Massachusetts were terrified when accusations of witchcraft began to be thrown around. Women would confess and then accuse someone else. Eventually, a total of twenty innocent people were found guilty and hanged (Popkin 140).

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. Abigail is indirectly compared to McCarthy at many points throughout the play.