Mccarthyism The Crucible

Purist Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 suffered from a rapidly increasing phenomenon: witchcraft accusations and trials. The Crucible is a play that recounts the times of this incident. For the most part, it follows a man known as John Proctor. He is a sensible, honest, and hardworking man who made the mistake of succumbing to lust which sets off a chain of events that leads to the witch trials, and to his own demise. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible’s protagonist John Proctor proves to be a flawed human being who struggles to make sense of his past relationship with Abigail, his love for his wife, and his pride.

American playwright Arthur Miller, in his play The Crucible (1952) displays to us that which hunt still exists in American society. Miller supports this claim by drawing parallels between the Salem Witch trials and the senator Joseph McCarthy. His purpose is to warn his readers of the dangers of mass hysteria. He uses emotional appeals and logic to convince the readers that mass “hunts” are still a danger to Americans today. The crucial way however, that Miller achieves his supreme objective of revealing the risks of reputation vs. integrity is through a fascinating character, John Proctor. John is an example of an internally conflicted character because he had a huge argument with Elizabeth over Abigail, Proctor also had an affair with Abigail, and lastly John had a choice between life and death at the end of the play.

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.

“Never let what you don’t know disturb your faith in what you do know” , this quote was one of the famous puritans quote during the time of the 1600s. Puritans were a group of christian people that lived based off of what they believe in. Until in the mid 1600s, an unfortunate event cause them to fall part; accusations of witchcraft. Arthur Miller who wrote “The Crucibles” uses the theme of how fear can motivate you to make different kind of actions to compare to MCcarthyism that occurred in 1950s. In the 1950s, Joseph McCarthy was accusing citizens of communists with no proof, which is what Danforth the judge did in the book; accuses people of doing witchcraft without any evidence. Arthur Miller showcases each character with unique character traits to represent MCcarthyism.

There have been many events in history that shape the time we live in. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red Scare in McCarthy Era because of fear, accusations, anger within the people.

What does it mean for something to be fair? Fair means “in accordance with the rules or standards”(Merriam-Webster). The Crucible by Arthur Miller and the trials of the Red Scare were anything but fair. In fact, they were completely unjust and immoral. The Red Scare consisted of Mccarthyism and public panic. Mccarthyism is when “a campaign or practice that endorses the use of unfair allegations and investigations”(Banes). The Crucible and McCarthyism share many similarities including that the law operated in unfair ways and failed to maintain justice, one person was the root cause of this mass public hysteria and both people lied to protect themselves.

Have you ever been wrongly accused of something? Arthur Miller writes about this threw his work, The Crucible. He wrote about the Salem Witch Trials and how people were accused of Witchcraft. Miller hoped that in doing this would then

Even a refined society is vulnerable to becoming an uncultivated madhouse. McCarthyism made its debut as a term derived from the baseless accusations of Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1950. The fear of the Cold War against the Soviet Union emphasized the fears of the people, resulting in a time of increased suspicion. This may be compared to the events in The Crucible, where the citizens of Salem turned against one another. In the recent years, evidence has surfaced of Russia tempering with the Presidential election, the investigation headed by Robert Mueller.

The play ‘The Crucible’ written by Arthur Miller is an allegorical reference to the McCarthyism of the 1950s. Set in the historical context of the 17th century Salem, this play explores several themes to point out how politics, greed and imaginative hysteria can tear a community apart. To further emphasize this, Miller uses different characters and develops them as the play progresses. In addition, his use of effective language intensifies the role of characters like John and Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris and many others in the play.

During the 1950’s the red scare was a serious concern amongst American citizens, and Senator Joseph McCarthy took full advantage of the situation. “Capitalizing on the concerns of communism, Joseph McCarthy accused that nearly 200 communists had infiltrated congress” (Miller). The antics of McCarthy can help the reader better understand Arthur Miller’s The Crucible in multiple ways. Many different aspects of McCarthyism are related to the play, which gives the reader a clear idea of the corruption and chaos in Salem in 1692. Through the modern day accusations known as McCarthyism, The Crucible becomes easily understood for the reader due to the many similar repercussions that resulted in paranoia from the population as well as wrongful punishments.

The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in response to McCarthyism. It takes place during the 17th century in Salem, Massachusetts. Reverend John Hale of Beverly was an intellectual man in his late thirties who specialized in witchcraft. His last experience with witchcraft was false, but it had no effect on his confidence. Reverend Hale experienced the greatest change in the play, The Crucible, and merits a detailed exploration of his development.

Arthur Miller has written many plays such as Death of a salesman, All my sons, After the fall, and Broken glass. The one he is most known for is The Crucible. The play was written in 1952 and was published in 1953. Arthur Miller was inspired by mccarthyism. Miller used the Salem witch trials as an allegory for mccarthyism. The play showed how people jumped to conclusions looking for answers which caused many deaths. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, there are two characters that are the most to blame for the tragedies in Salem.

a different type of system controlling the society. 1984 had a totalitarian type of government that

The Crucible is a historic play set in 1692 in a Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. The play is a story of a divided village that let the idea of Witchcraft ruin it. The play begins with the town minister finding his daughter and friends dancing in the woods with his slave. The slave was performing a ritual dance. The daughter got nervous about her discovery, and fainted. Because she was hard to arouse, rumors of witchcraft in the town began. The play focuses on some of the town’s characters lives and the myth of Witchcraft within it. One character discussed is Abigail. Abigail is a young teenager who believes she is a witch. Throughout the play, she shows signs of selfishness and is known as a big liar. She puts a lot of pressure on people, including her boss, John Proctor. John Proctor is a middle aged man, married to his wife, Elizabeth. John Proctor and Abigail show strength/weakness, lying/truthfulness, and self-sacrifice/selfishness throughout the play.

The Crucible is a story of love and lust, of paranoia and hatred, and of terror and faith. This play, written by Arthur Miller has many themes woven into the story, and they all reveal his own personal morals. The portrayal of John Proctor's redemption from his deceitful marriage is the strongest of these themes: you will find redemption if you seek to speak the truth. The changes John Proctor undergoes throughout the book highlight the value of truth, especially in relationships. His lies to his wife cause a wall of frost to grow between them, and though he may try to chip at the wall, the only thing that could melt it is the truth, no matter how heated an argument it may create.