Comparing The Crucible And The Mccarthy Era

Arthur Miller's The Crucible, depicts the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 but is analogous to the McCarthy trials of the 1950s. In both situations, widespread hysteria occurs, stemming from existing fears of the people of that particular era. The Salem witchhunt trials parallel the McCarthy era in three major aspects: unfounded accusations, hostile interrogation of numerous innocent people and the ruination and death of various people's lives.

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.

“I have here in my hand a list of 205 State Department employees that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department”, McCarthy’s speech in the State Department, (“McCarthyism & the Red Scare”, History.com). The Red Scare era was a haywire of communist infiltrations during the Cold War, in the 1950s. On February 9th, 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy a republican of Wisconsin, accused originally 205 state department employees of being a part of a communist party. McCarthy’s speech sparked an uproar of nationwide hysteria about the renegade people in the American government. Overall, McCarthy accused 224 people for being involved with a communist party. One of the 224 people, Arthur Miller, an american playwright who wrote The Crucible to warn the american people against the government misinformation. The Crucible is about the salem witch trials in 1692. He compared the witch trials in The Crucible to the McCarthy investigations. The Crucible, a play, written by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red Scare in the McCarthy Era, which took place in the 1950s, because of the false evidence provided, the false accusations, and the hearsay in the courts.

“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.

Many people interpret The Crucible in different ways, but when you look at all the similarities between McCarthyism and The Crucible the meaning of the Crucible is revealed. After doing research on McCarthyism and reading The Crucible it becomes clear why Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible.

“The state department is infested with communists”-Joe McCarthy. These such accusations by Joseph McCarthy were the inspiration for The Crucible. When Arthur Miller was accused of Communism he wrote The Crucible to criticize McCarthy for his evidenceless accustons. In both Arthur Miller’s play and McCarthy’s accusation innocent people's lives were ruined for the betterment of another’s life. The Crucible is Arthur Miller’s story about the Salem Witchcraft trials, which was a real event in which many people were tried, found guilty of witchcraft, and hung. Years after these trials the people of salem figured out that no one was actually guilty of witchcraft. In these two cases Communism and witchcraft are the parallels, both being community destroying terrors that must be eradicated. This is

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 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.

One of the reasons why The Crucible is an allegory for the Red Scare in the McCarthy Era is because in both of these events people were being accused of something they weren’t with very little or no evidence and they forced them to comply. In The Crucible Abigail and they other girls were able to accuse basically anyone even though they didn’t really have any evidence other than their word that they saw them with the Devil. This relates to the Red Scare during the McCarthy Era because the Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was able to investigate and interview anybody who was a suspected communist and if anyone the interviewed didn’t answer any of their questions they went to prison and were put on a blacklist. Anybody who was accused of a communist didn’t name any names they were put on a

In both The Crucible and McCarthyism, people are accused of being either witches or communists. The accused are placed in such a dire situation where they are either forced to lie to save themselves, or to remain honest, at the risk of their social or physical lives. In The Crucible, John Proctor is accused of practicing witchcraft, and when asked if he is a witch, he responds,“Why it is a lie, it is a lie; how may I damn myself? I cannot, I cannot.” (Act IV pg. 140) He refuses to confess to something he did not do, even if lying means that he can save his life. During the McCarthy trials, people who were accused of being communists refused to confess that they were, although it hurt their reputation. In both

The Crucible is a complex and intriguing novel with events, characters and themes comparable to almost every period of human history. It is common for humans to fear change and what is unknown, in the play The Crucible this is witchcraft and the devil, in more recent times it can be seen in post World War Two and Cold War United States, through McCarthyism. The themes in the crucible are as important to people in the 21st century as in Salem in 1692. These include justice, reputation, hysteria, intolerance and empowerment. All of these are common themes throughout human history. The characters in The Crucible are also important to people of the 21st century as they can teach us a little bit about people around us and their reactions when

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.

In Arthur Miller 's powerful play The Crucible, written in 1953 as a allegory and metaphor for the McCarthy hearings on communism in America, the idea of conscience is greatly emphasized in many of the main characters.

The history of religious and government intolerance creates a bridge between the 1692 witch trials and present society, including the impending McCarthyism of the 1950s. Hysteria continues to cause riots and uprisings within the world and reputation is still held to a high level of respect. Without these main themes, The Crucible would not be a piece of work that is still prevalent within society and continues to teach

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.