Examples Of Irony In The Crucible

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 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.

Fear was a major factor, in using allegories to relate The Crucible to McCarthyism. As in both individual times, people often disassociated themselves from any means that could possibly have them relate to those crimes. The McCarthyism era, was a dark time for the United States, citizens were alarmed at the rising number of communists throughout Eastern Europe and parts of Asia. With an obscure veil of fear, altering people's judgements, the basis of the countryś beliefs began to tremble. As stated in paragraph three, of the McCarthyism Introduction, ¨The

“The crucible” is a book Miller wrote to connect with the Salem witchcraft trials that lead to an increase of mccarthyism in a play. The Crucible is split into four different acts. Act one begins off with Pariss thinking the girls and Abigail were doing witchcraft because they were together in the forest and Betty has been set to some type of colma. Act 2 is about Proctor’s affairs with Elizabeth and she prohibited Abigail from the farm land. Act 3 is when the trials begin , and many people like Elizabetha are accused of witchcraft. The last act ends very devastating because people like Giles and Proctor were innocent , but the court say otherwise all because the afflicted girls like Abigail , start accusing people with witchcraft to creates

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.

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

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.

Have you ever wonder what life was like during the McCarthy Era? As many generations passes by, a lot tend to look back reminisce on those who had lost their lives. Innocents were accused without any evidence, suffered, tortured, and killed. People were arrested with no doubt just because of accusations that were made. In the story, The Crucible which takes place in Salem is about innocent people getting accuse with false accusations because of witchcraft. However, McCarthyism is similar to The Crucible because of those who were accused and tortured. Which then the innocent no longer had that pride of being who they were because of the false accusations. Therefore, The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red Scare in the

Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is a metaphor for the Red Scare, also known as McCarthyism, a time period in U.S. history when Senator Joseph McCarthy and the government used propaganda against communism. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) would blacklist and accuse anyone for the crime of supporting communism, with or without evidence. (11-04-15) Arthur Miller’s purpose and message in the allegorical play, The Crucible is to show the dangers in mass hysteria.

McCarthyism happened because of all the "card-carrying" people and all the talk about atomic bombs. In the Crucible some of the girls made false claims saying that they knew about the existences of witches in Salem but the girls had no proof to show anybody or make sure that their story wasn't fabricated. McCarthyism is the same, McCarthyism made claims against these people saying that made them degraded and had to proof to show it but it was all on his word because he was right any everyone else's was wrong. One main similaiaterty that sticks out is people didn't want to speak up to say anything or stop what was going on. During McCarthyism the media didn't want to stand up and speak because they felt like if they were to say what was on their mind or give an opinion or say that anything was wrong they would be seen as a communist. In the Crucible the townspeople don't

The next type of noticeable irony in The Crucible is situational irony. This irony is defined as is a difference between what is expected to happen in a story versus what actually happens. One example of situational irony occurred for the accused: the punishment of the "witches". Will they die because they honestly claim they aren't witches or will they live a life of lying about their true witch identity? Goody Proctor was a genuine and honest person, and yet, she died with the truth that she was innocent of witchcraft. Which is truly more important: your desires or common morals? Another example of situational irony takes place in the courts of Act III, the sin of wrong-doing buried in the heart of John Proctor, when he finally admits he

The Crucible, a twisted playwright, written by Arthur Miller is an allegory to the McCarthy trials of the 1950’s. An allegory is a story with two levels of meaning- literal and symbolic. In an allegory the characters, events, and instances relate to real people, events, and instances. (“Definition of Allegory” R104). Characters like John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and the Court, represent real people like Arthur Miller, Joseph R. McCarthy and the organization created, the HUAC. Events like the puritans being brought into the court and John Proctor having to choose between staying to oppose the court or using his wife as leverage were similar to the accused that were brought in, as well as Miller refusing bribery. Instances when the court had no substantial proof were in comparison to the HUAC having no evidence and taking away the passports of the accused. Miller wrote The Crucible as an allegory to show that people in power take advantage of their authority. He wanted to teach that being under pressure and living in fear can affect the decisions that are made in everyday life and to criticize the institutions that wronged the vulnerable people during these times.

During the Salem witch trials, men, women, children, and animals were put on trial for being accused of witchcraft. The punishment, if found guilty, was death by hanging. During the McCarthyism era of the Red Scare, men and women were being accused of being communist, or associating with the communist party. When found guilty of being a communist, people affected were blacklisted, imprisoned, and deported. Despite the 200+ year difference, it's not difficult to see the parallels between The Crucible and the events that occurred during the McCarthyism era of the Red Scare.The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red Scare in the McCarthyism era because people were expected to confess to a “ crime “ they had not committed, the innocent were accused, and the way evidence was handled and considered substantial.