Similarities Between The Crucible And Mccarthyism

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

Abigail’s character in The Crucible completely paralleled McCarthy from 1949 to 1954 because they both were initially embarrassed, they both accused other people without justification, and they both amplified problems that they did not create. Abigail faced initial embarrassment after being caught dancing in the forest by her uncle, Reverend Parris. Similarly, McCarthy was humiliated after his first three accusations utterly failed in 1949. Thus, Abigail paralleled McCarthy because they were both embarrassed in the beginning. At the end of act 1, Abigail started to throw out wild accusations against other characters by saying that she “saw [them] with the Devil.” (Miller 189) Abigail provided absolutely no evidence to justify such claims. In 1950, McCarthy accused “57” (History of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security of the United States Department of State 122) people in the Department of State of

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible focuses on the Salem Witch Trials along with the pointing of fingers that went along with it. Miller wrote this to reflect upon what was occurring during the Red Scare in the 1940’s and 1950’s. The Crucible is written in an ironic and cynical tone mocking the Red Scare.

McCarthyism had great effects on different levels of society, involving conflict and many arguments. This relates to The Crucible in the sense that the way people were acting changed dramatically, different and weird because they knew or thought that witches were around. It destroyed people’s relationships, caused chaos in church and separation between people. People supported Abigail and Rev.Parris in different types of ways. For example when Abigail would say something and even when it was not true the girls would all follow her moves and lie for her. McCarthyism was supported by many different groups, including a lot of anti- communist organizations, there was no solid number for the victims of McCarthyism, and people who were imprisoned were around the hundreds and ten to twelve thousand lost their jobs.

In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” it tells the tale of the Salem Witch Trials. At the time of the play, the McCarthy trials, named after Sen. Joseph McCarthy, were underway. Though, instead of hunting for witches, they were hunting for communists. These two trials may have happened at different points in history, but were in many ways the same. Whether it was death to job loss a lot of lives were changed on account of these trials. “The Crucible” and the McCarthy trials have become historically important because they show the process of power, fear, and turmoil.

The Crucible is the fictional story of the Salem witch trials in which many women were accused of being witches. The Crucible is written by Arthur Miller, who was recorded as the greatest American playwright (“Arthur Miller” 1). The scene for the play is based in the Massachusetts Bay Colony around 1692. McCarthyism was the act of accusing people of treason without evidence, attacks on a person's character, and attack on their patriotism by accusing many Americans of being communist (Ortega). Lisa Martin says, “Communists control led the two world superpowers, China and the Soviet Union Americans feared a takeover in their own country” (Martin 1). Many people tried to accuse the men and women who were spreading the fear. One man named Joseph McCarthy was a senator that charged communists that interfered with the U.S. State Department (“Joseph McCarthy” 1). The accusations lead to investigations, questioning and finding people guilty without evidence,

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

     The unfounded accusations that Joseph McCarthy and the girls in The Crucible make are what fuels the widespread hysteria in both situations. McCarthy is quoted as declaring in a speech, "I have here in my hand a list of 205 that were known to the Secretary of

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 play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller was written in response to McCarthyism in the 1950’s. In 1692 and 1693 the Salem witch trials took place in Salem Massachusetts. Girls believed to be involved in witchcraft were responsible for these trials. In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s senator McCarthy came to office. Senator McCarthy and some of his allies were responsible for hysteria in the United States of America in the 1950’s. The scare was also in result of a communist scare after World War II and leading to the cold war. The behavior of the people of the Salem witch trials and Americans in the 19050’s resulted in a big scare in reaction to hysteria.

The girls and Senator McCarthy accused people without credible evidence which therefore lead to the massive hysteria

The Crucible V.S. McCarthyism The Crucible written in the 1990s, but set in the 1600s. At the same time the book was getting written, McCarthyism was happening. Both, McCarthyism and The Crucible were pointed at the people's weak spots. Like in The Crucible, Abigail Williams started accusing people that had nothing to do with the whole woods and spirit thing.

Innocent people were accused of being a communist and having something to do with witchcraft in the 1950s. In the article “The 1950s Part One: McCarthy and the Red Scare” by Alan Brinkley he writes about how people that are innocent are accused of being a communist. Alan writes, “People were afraid of being called communists or being associated with communists” (Brinkley). People were afraid because being accused could have major problems and they could be jailed or worse. Throughout the time more and more people were accused and it became a bigger problem. The rumors made the people terrified and some of the trials could have been lies. In another article of “Witch Hunting and Blacklisting in 1950s America” by USHistory.org, the writer writes that, “Although McCarthyism was dead by the mid-1950s, its effects lasted for decades” (USHistory.org). The rumors that went around about communism and witch hunting affected the country by the innocent people being accused and everyone not knowing who really was a communist and who wasn’t. The rumors made people lose their jobs or even make their lives harder. The author of “The Crucible” wanted to write a play based on communism with how rumors affect everything sometimes.

McCarthyism had involved many people in, most of them are innocent. Back then, when McCarthyism was still exist. The Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was established, their main object was to investigate the subversive activities of un-americans. “ The following week, nineteen so-called “unfriendly”witness were called to testify. Only ten actually testified, and these became known as the “Hollywood Ten”. All had been member of the Command Party and had worked on films with progressive message “. (Un-american Activities Committee 2). The HUAC began investigated the Hollywood Motion Picture Industry. Based on the informations and what they heard from other people. They called for 19 people to testify, but only 10 were actually testified. Those ten people were innocent, though they were involved because of false informations and rumors. In Crucible, Abigail and other girls in the wood were crying out loud in the Court, they were called to testify for related