Mccarthyism In The Salem Witch Trials By Arthur Miller

A man of tarnished reputation can redeem his good name and be remembered as a hero. John Proctor made mistakes as all do, but he was forgiven. Throughout the play Proctor kept his sins away for it would destroy his good name and reputation. In the end he is more concerned with his personal integrity rather than his public reputation. John Proctor sacrificed his life so the village of Salem would not blacken his name or his friends. Concluding from his actions it is seen that John Proctor is indeed a good

People’s true character is revealed through their actions. Their morals and ethics can be told from how they choose to act in a situation. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible; the character of John Proctor is an honorable man despite having committed wrongful acts. He was able to redeem himself through acts that is considered courageous, such as when he refuses to contribute to the lie of witchcraft in Salem, when he fights for the people who were convicted of witchcraft and when he regrets being a dishonest man.

The Salem witch trials and the story of Joseph McCarthy are very similar; they both accused innocent people of doing things that were “bad” at the time. The Salem Witch trials were persecutions of men and woman on account of performing witchcraft. Two girls accused a woman of doing witchcraft and then the accusations continued, people accused other people to relieve their own punishment in a last ditch effort to save their lives, but it was in vein. After the witch trials were over “19 had been killed and an elderly man pressed to death under heavy stones”(Linder). “Some accused of witch craft were burned at the stake all in the name of justice”(Brown). Others were finally let out of jail after being in imprisonment for months at a time.

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 “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, 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

In the 1950’s there was a scare of communism and people were being accused of being communist. From the article “McCarthyism: Witch Hunting and Blacklisting in the 1950s” “McCarthy's claims continued into 1954, this time targeting the Army. For eight weeks, in front of millions of television viewers, McCarthy questioned Army officials, including many war heroes.” Many people were getting questioned about being communist even though there wasn’t any real proof. McCarthy had questioned a lot of people including two people that had been Secretary of State. He had made a list of questionable claims, he didn't have any real proof but the Senate called for a full investigation. In the article “Famous Speeches: Joseph McCarthy's “Enemies from Within”, “This is glaringly true in the State Department, where those who were born with every possible advantage are the ones who have been most traitorous.” He is saying that the people with the most opportunities and that the country has been good too have been traitors. There is no actual evidence to this statement. He is picking out a group of people and using them. Because of his experience in the Red Scare he was able to write “The Crucible”.

The message in which Miller writes teaches teenagers about what life was like in the centuries before their time, and what some of the themes in those times were; which are also parallel to what happened during Miller’s lifetime, in the era of McCarthyism, as it does in today’s social and political problems. All three of these eras have intolerance, hysteria, reputation, and empowerment woven throughout them. This is one of the reasons they are connected to each other.

Many people in this world are accused of crimes so absurd that when put to trial, they name others of the same crime to redirect the focus from them to others like it happens in the actual day, every year, with minor cases. McCarthyism was one of those cases that changed history, likewise the Salem Witch Trials. McCarthyism had the same effect on people, people who were accused of communism blame others to lessen their penalty like in the Salem Witch Trials, so how the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Era can connects although the great difference in time?

In order to keep one's dignity, one must first lose their pride and take responsibility for one's actions; regardless of the outcome. In the beginning of “The Crucible,” by Arthur Miller, Protagonist John Proctor is an evidently damaged yet strong willed character. However, after laying his life down for the justice of his wife (Elizabeth Proctor), his friends, and himself, he brings a positive tone back to his name. Proctors honesty, strong will, and brokenness greatly contributes to the overall message of this play: Have faith in the truth, and don’t let lies fog what that truth is.

Salem was divided geographically and politically into Salem town the sea port and Salem village a small farming community. The Salem village's struggled for power; one led by the porter family advocating close ties with the town, another group led by the Putnam family fighting for independence. A Sinister pattern began to emerge, many of the accusers belonged to the Putnam faction, many of the accused girls were a part of the Porter faction. Five of the nine accusing girls reside at Thomas Putnam and Samuel Parris. A total of eight members of the Putnam clan help sentence nearly fifty accused witches. All of the accusing girls had direct links to the household of Rev.Parris who testified against ten accused witches.

Many crucial events lead to the Salem Witch trials. The trials ended in a gruesome manner, and conflicts were at the root of the cause. The Salem Witch trials were the result of illogical-mass hysteria, and were induced by grudge holding people who used the trials to harm their foes.

He is faced with extreme conflict due to the fact that he committed one of the biggest sins there is: adultery. Proctor then has to decide whether he wants to confess his sin in order to save his wife or to be selfish and live a slandered reputation. Just as John Proctor makes the decision to save his wife’s life and his family's reputation, so too will any person that believes it is more important to put their family above

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an interpretation of the Salem witch trials of 1692 in Puritan Massachusetts in which religion, self- preservation and self-dignity play a vital role. The three factors I listed played a huge role in John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Reverend Hale, Danforth and many other lives. Many other characters such as, Abigail Williams and her friends can be characterized by being greedy, bitter, and selfish. In the play, Miller reveals how people can go against their own morals, therefore they can protect themselves. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, he reveals to readers how fear escalated in Salem because of people's desire for personal gain.

In his essay, “The Tragedy and the Common Man”, Miller affirms that one of the aspects of a tragic hero is “the underlying struggles that of the individual attempting to gain his "rightful" position in his society (1).” Miller makes it clear that even a man of ordinary status is burdened with the struggle of one’s name in a duplicitous society. Proctor struggles with this when he is faced with the ultimate decision to either confess to witchcraft and give in to the corruption of the witch hunt and Puritan beliefs or keep