Comparing Mccarthyism And The Crucible By Arthur Miller

The horrors of history are passed on from generation to generation in hopes that they will never occur again. People look back on these times and are appalled at how horrendous the times were; yet, in the 1950s, history repeated itself. During this time, Joseph McCarthy, a United States senator from Wisconsin, began accusing people of being communists or communist sympathizers, which is parallel to the Salem witch trials in the late 1690s when innocent people were accused of practicing witchcraft. One of the people McCarthy accused was author and playwright Arthur Miller. To express his outrage at McCarthy’s actions, miller wrote The Crucible, intentionally drawing similarities between the McCarthy hearings and the Salem witch trials.

Communism. Witchcraft. These two highly controversial topics are either feared or adored by people. There are numerous similarities and differences between both, yet one thing is prominent: they both incite hysteria. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegorical play mirroring 1950’s America during the Red Scare. “McCarthyism” is the act of accusing someone of an act of treason without substantial evidence. It relies on the uncertainty and the fear of the unknown among people, which in turn, incites hysteria. Joseph McCarthy accused many people of being communists without much evidence or reason. The accusations in The Crucible also are proposed without evidence and cause much hysteria among the town. Since The Crucible was written as an

The 1950s was a chaotic time for the United States. China had just fallen to communist forces, Russia was in an arms race, and national security was at an all-time high. Accusations were flying against anyone thought to be a security risk, and throughout it all, Joseph McCarthy trumped the blame card more than anyone else. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller alludes to this period of time by using Abigail Williams to represent Joseph McCarthy and by using the General Court of Salem to represent the Division of Security.

‘The Crucible’ is an allegory. An allegory is a story with an obvious meaning but if you look deeper into it, there is another meaning. In this case, the obvious meaning is the Salem witch-hunt and the hidden meaning is McCarthyism. McCarthyism started in the early 1950’s and it was governmental accusations with no evidence. Joseph McCarthy started doing trials on those he thought were communist, but he had no evidence for it. This is the same as the witch trials in The Crucible. Arthur Miller wrote this in response to McCarthyism.

Authors used their literary work to get a point across to the public in the story The Crucible; Arthur Miller used events and characters to show the similarities to McCarthyism which was prevalent in the 1950s. McCarthyism was associated with the period in the United Sates also known as the Second Red Scare. McCarthyism is very similar in the way that Joe McCarthy accused Americans of being communist and in The Crucible people were being accused of being witches. It is known that Arthur Miller wrote this story as a reaction to a tragic time in our history.

The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, was not only a captivating play, but also a platform to fight against the iniquitous force of McCarthyism during the 1950s. Set in Salem, a town in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the play dramatized the witch trials that brought widespread paranoia during 1692 to 1693. So to no one’s surprise, The Crucible and McCarthyism were juxtaposed. Since Arthur Miller wanted to criticize the acts of Senator Joseph McCarthy, he chose to express specific themes that appeared in both the play’s Puritan setting and in the United States. One of the major themes Arthur Miller wanted to convey through his work is the distrust of nature. In the remainder of this essay, I will be discussing the relationship of this theme to the play’s

“I decline to make any such statement which I found demeaning; what right had any organization to demand anyones pledge of loyalty?” Those words, were Arthur Miller’s reply to the House of Un-American Activities Commision. In which he was being questioned and then later indicted and found guilty of contempt of congress. Just like the many characters in his book The Crucible, who refused to comply with the unjust questioning and in turn, point to another in order to keep their integrity amongst the court. The story is based on false accusations which lead to the downfall of their town, by the multiple deaths due to the corrupt system of court; which is very much similar to the McCarthyism era. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory considering, the fear of the respective crimes, biased acustations which lead to tainted trials and then the effects on one's life due to those corrupt sentences.

Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. He wrote this because of his personal experiences with the Communist Witch Trials. Miller was known for always sharing his opinion out to the community. During this time Senator Joseph McCarthy play a major role in trying to prevent communism from spreading. Miller was an easy target for McCarthy and was accused of being a Communist. This caused Miller to become one of many victims of the Communist witch trials and her served time in jail. The Communist witch trials was what influenced Miller to write his play about the Salem witch trials in the 1600’s.The Crucible mimicked issues that both societies had. The play also exposed Senator Joseph McCarthy for abusing his political power. The play is mainly

In Miller’s lifetime, McCarthyism was happening. The Red Scare in the 1950s made everyone in the United States afraid of what communists in the United States might do to them. This intolerance between communists and non-communists caused distrust, suspicions, and mass hysteria during the Cold War in the United States, as it did in seventeenth century Salem. A person’s reputation during McCarthyism, however, could hurt them more then

n the time of being treated like nothing, there were multiple things that made people feel that way and were brought to light. McCarthyism and The Crucible were examples of horrifying events in history that gave a whole new meaning to unfair trials. For witches, if they were found guilty, their life would be spared. If they chose to stay with God, they were killed for choosing the right choice. The Crucible and McCarthyism are very alike and different because of the way Arthur Miller made people feel based on assumptions.

The novel, The Crucible was written in 1953 by Arthur Miller, which was based on the Salem Witch Trials existing in the late 1600s. In the play, Abigail and several other young women accuse innocent citizens of Salem for the action of witchcraft. During the trials, many individuals were unfairly persecuted; such as John Proctor. This event in history may be associated with the Red Scare, in which individuals were tried for their questionable influences of communism in the United States. When Miller compares the character of John Proctor to himself, the reader is able to relate the similar experiences that both men faced. The Crucible demonstrates the struggle against corruption involving the court, which lead to the death of many innocent individuals in Salem. The Crucible generates an allegory for Arthur Miller’s struggles with McCarthyism because of his similar experience relating to John Proctor’s battle against the Salem Witch Trials, and the relation between the actions of the court in both situations. Arthur Miller uses several writing methods in order to convey The Crucible as an allegory for his struggles with McCarthyism. Miller demonstrates how the Crucible represents an allegory for his conflict with McCarthyism by relating his experiences with the plot of the novel. Miller relates the novel to his struggles by stating, “Should the accused confess, his honesty could only be proved by naming former confederates.” (Are You Now… 34) Miller is explaining how the court

In order to be accurate in accusing someone of a crime, you must have the appropriate evidence to back up your story. In The Crucible, many people were accused of practicing witchcraft. The ones who confessed, were sentenced to jail and the ones who denied it, were killed. The only way they had to prove what was being done, was spectral evidence. Therefore, the only person known to tell the truth was the victim. McCarthyism involved communists, like The Crucible, those who were accused were sentenced to jail time. The parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism are naming names, the lack of evidence, and rebellion against the government in which they served.

The Crucible is an allegory for McCarthyism because Senator Joseph McCarthy and Abigail Williams from The Crucible were the leaders in the courts, they both ruined many lives, and made false accusations. In the first place, Senator Joseph McCarthy was very crafty and manipulative during the court hearing while he accused people of being Communist becoming a leader. Abigail quickly realized she needed to convince the girls to follow her commands to increase her power, which eventually led to more hangings of innocent people. For example, Abigail threatened the girls to side with her when she stated, “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about

The McCarthy Era began in the time period of 1950, shortly after World War II ended. Communism is a theory of organization based on the holding of all property in common, having actual ownership to a community as a whole. After the issue of communist seemed to pass, the Salem witch trials took place in Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Arthur Miller said he wrote he crucible as an allegory of McCarthyism.

Government structure was a big deal during the late 1940 's -1950’s. The US was democracy and the Soviet Union was based off of communism. The two forms of leadership played a major role throughout the upcoming years. In the US, you were either for democracy or not. If you were not you would be black listed and an outcast. This is because during that time, the government thought that there were spies from the Soviet Union and other countries who were into communism. A man named Joseph McCarthy added unto the fear of people by saying he knew 205 communist and 81 in the state department. Many American told on others just to save themselves from being questioned or accused. The act of doing so was later called McCarthyism. This relates to