Miller's Use Of Paranoia In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

My response:Because Miller wrote The Crucible as a social commentary on the effects of the Red Scare, he uses the entire play as an allegory to how the scare for communists combined with flaws

During the Red Scare, many were arrested and prosecuted for allegedly being Communists. Miller took these accusations and made a mockery of them in The Crucible. “The Salem tragedy… developed a paradox. It is a paradox in whose grip we still live, and there is no prospect yet that we will discover its resolution,” (Miller 6-7). Miller is directly saying that since the Salem Witch Trials, nothing has changed and that he sees no future in it ever changing. He later said that “the results of this process are no different now from when they ever were,” (Miller 34-35). Miller was well aware of everything going on and used that to his advantage in his writing. Miller knew that the Salem Witch Trials would relate to what was happening then.

The Crucible is a play, which explores the witch- hunting hysteria that happened in Salem 1692. Miller uses this “organized mass-hysteria”[1] to comment on his own similar experience during the 1950s. Through “The Crucible”, Miller is able to draw an analogy between the hysteria of the Salem witch-trails and its modern parallel of the anti communist ‘witch-hunts’ which occurred due to the HUAC-House of un-American Committee, which were lead by Senator Joseph McCarthy; who with the help of the committee were “ruthlessly determined to hunt out communists as the Salem judges had been to hunt out witches”[2]. Miller used “The Crucible” to criticise this unmitigated

During the 1940s and 1950s there was a mass hysteria in America because people suspected others of being Communist. A man named Arthur Miller wrote ‘’The Crucible’’ as a way to signify what was happening in the U.S. . He used this story to show how bad things were and how easy it was for people to be falsely accused of being Communist. Miller connects America's Red scare to his fictional story ‘’The Crucible’’ because in the fictional drama the normal people of Salem where falsely persecuted as witches and just like the people during the Red Scare , their lives were ruined beyond repair and they were even killed for suspicion of being a witch even if there was littler evidence to state them as being one.

Fear, paranoia, and vengeance all persuaded people’s actions in The Crucible, yet these feelings still play a major role in today’s society. That being said, terrorism can be seen as the “Witch Trials” of today. Similarly to how the people of Salem, Massachusetts created a negative bias towards everyone who they believed had conjured spirits, people today have created this stereotype against Muslims because of fear due to terrorist attacks that have taken place. Fear and paranoia can have a major influence on people to make rash decisions and carry out things they normally would not leading to chaos.

The Crucible was written as a response to the Red Scare. The reason he wrote this story was he saw similarities between himself and the Red Scare and the Witchcraft trials. So he wrote about them. A similarity was such as Arthur Miller Cheated on his wife just like John Proctor did in Act I of The Crucible. So this is my conclusion, The Crucible is a social commentary over communism in the

The Crucible is brimming with heat, anticipation, extramarital sex, open falsehoods and savage arraignment, All of which indicate deliver a book in which the subject of dread and suspicion is obviously a section in these small-town individuals' lives. Amid the crucible, Miller tries to extend a great deal of dread and neurosis into his work, empowering the peruser to physically and sincerely feel their part in Salem's history. Salem is taken from the Hebrew Shalom meaning peace however from Miller's part in the crucible; a darker, turbulent view is made for the readers, and the truth of peace is more shadowed by Salem and its characters dim neurosis.

During the late 1940’s and the early 1950’s, America acted out of fear instead of their head. Author Miller motivated to write The Crucible due to his being alive during the late 1950’s when McCarthyism was prevalent in the U.S. He was trying to make the comparison of the two-time periods. Author Miller wrote The Crucible to point out the hysteria caused by the Red Scare by drawing comparisons with fear fueling hysteria, the ignoring of evidence, and types of people who were falsely accused.

I believe the overall theme of the play The Crucible centers around hysteria. Arthur Miller mentions in his essay “Why I Wrote the Crucible” the presence of fear and desperation in the wartime days that “formed The Crucible’s skeleton”. Arthur goes to hint at the similarity of “liberals who, despite their discomfort with the inquisitors’ violations of civil rights, were fearful, and with good reason, of being identified as covert Communists if they should protest too strongly…” to the villagers in the town of Salem within The Crucible, and how they were afraid of being accused of witchcraft by the courts. Arthur Miller is attempting to convey the message that people act recklessly when overwhelmed with confusion and fear-led excitement.

Paranoia and the fear of the unknown often serve as motives of characters in literature. These characters do whatever they deem necessary, no matter how unjust their actions may be when they feel threatened. In times of distress, some of these actions can become questionable. The author of The Crucible, Arthur Miller, emphasizes people’s boundless reactions to anxiety and questions the morality of their rationale. In The Crucible, Miller makes desperation and fear the motivations for Abigail Williams’s action to illustrate how depraved people can become when protecting themselves.

At first glance the book The Crucible can look like an ordinary book that is dramatized and fictionalized, but when you look further into the story you will find that it has a much deeper and underlying message. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red Scare in the McCarthy era because people accused others of witchcraft with no evidence, they believed whoever had this spirit in them were sinful, and whoever were accused it affected their lives horrendously.

various moods in the mind of the audience, in Act I. In Act I we

The Crucible, a phenomenal play, written by Arthur Miller is an allegory to the McCarthy Trials of the 1950s. An allegory is a story with two levels of meaning- literal and symbolic. In an allegory the character, events, and instances(“Definition of Allegory” R104). Characters like John Proctor, Abigail William and Hathorne represent Arthur Miller, Joseph McCarthy, and J.Edgar Hoover. Events like the people who were hanged, and people were accused of being witches were similar to blacklisted and they blamed for being communist. Instances were, when Procter’s wife was pregnant, and Danforth made people choose a side were in comparison to Francis Walter’s wife took a photo with his finance and the communist hide their beliefs. Miller wrote The Crucible as an allegory to show morality within a society that will accept others, to teach paranoia results in trauma and to criticize the government way of causing unnecessary fear.

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.

Arthur Miller is an American playwright who wrote The Crucible in 1952. The story is basically about a time of suspicion and accusation of many innocent women and men caused by a group of girls doing witchcraft that led to hysteria and complete turmoil in Salem village, and this exists in the late 1600s . It was actually written on the heels of World War II, during a time when the United States, especially Senator Joseph McCarthy as one of the most outstanding people at the time, was highly concerned about the rising power of the Soviet Union’s communism that would infiltrate the US leading to a significant amount of paranoia within the American government as compared to the paranoia about witchcraft in the play. Therefore, Arthur Miller must write The Crucible and mainly make a strong connection to this political and social event occuring after the World War II, and even relates that to himself.