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Compare And Contrast The Red Scare And The Crucible

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More than 200 people were accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials and authorities were so convinced that twenty of them were even killed for it (Blumberg). The Crucible is a historically fictitious play that takes place during the Salem Witch Trials and is used by Arthur Miller to compare the Red Scare to the Witch Trials. The Red Scare took place during the mid-1940s to the mid 1950s; it was a time period when many Americans were terrified of Communism and accused one another of being so without substantial evidence. These two are similar because they were both a hunt for things that did not exist in great numbers or at all in their respective times or places. Arthur Miller uses The Crucible to criticize the Red Scare by subtly comparing the two since they were both “witch hunts.” The Crucible is a fictional play written by Arthur Miller based on the Salem Witch Trials of the late 1600s. It was used by Miller to condemn the orchestrators of the panic called the Red Menace (Navasky 79). The Crucible starts off with a girl who was caught dancing in the woods with her friends who has become ill (Miller I. 299-301). She and her friends cover up the dancing by accusing others of being witches. The people of the village believe the girls and they continue to accuse others until over 200 people are accused of witchcraft and condemned to death (Miller I. 982-1077). By continuing to lie, the girls dig themselves a hole deeper and deeper until they cannot get out and

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