The Allegorical Story For The Percible In Arthur Miller's 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

“Arthur Miller made the play called “The Crucible” during the 1950’s as a response to McCarthyism and the U.S. Governments blacklisted people.”(Blakesley). Miller was then question and accused of “Contempt of Congress” for not identifying people that were at meetings he attended. McCarthyism and The Salem Witch Craft Trials have been two very wrong things that have happened in the history of the United States for a lot of reasons. First off they both wrongfully accused innocent people of performing not accepted actions of those times. In America you have a right of free will and in both cases they were denied this right just because of someone else’s opinion. In both cases of the Salem Witch Craft Trials and McCarthyism people were being accused of acts with little evidence. People pointed fingers at others so they wouldn’t get blamed for anything, so there was a scare factor taking place. Large groups of people supported these acts maybe because of a get on board everyone’s doing it theme, and if you disagreed you were considered a witch or a communist. Our country supported McCarthy until later we soon regretted it. During the 1940’s and 1950’s communism was a scare in the U.S. so McCarthy capitalized on the subject and said two hundred card carrying communist were in the U.S(PBS). With the Salem Trials people capitalized on the scare of witches and everyone starting accusing the “weird” people. Accusations weather true or false can

Martin Niemöller once said,“First they came for the communists, but I was not a communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.” The culture of accusations is a part of hysteria. As paranoia ensued in “The Crucible”, Joseph McCarthy made false allegations that influenced many peoples lives. An affair integrated in Arthur Miller’s play created controversy among the community. Trials were held for those accused and lying was the only way to survive. The harsh truth that was revealed in “The Crucible” and the parallels between the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials show patterns in which fear was used as an advantage, unsubstantiated claims occurred, and unethical punishments were given.

McCarthyism is used to describe accusations of treason without evidence. Back in the 1950’s, with the spread of communism across China and in Eastern Europe, people were afraid that communism could influence American’s minds. As the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States intensified, people were engulfed in fear and started to suspiscion evevrybody with difference political belief. In The Crucible, Salem established itself as a religious community, in which the government was based on the Puritan religion. Similar to the fear of communism, in the Salem town, the Devil appeared to be what created the panic of the townspeople. Fear is definitely plays an important role in both of these events. Fear oftens caused by physical and emotional danger, anxiety for oneself or another, or feeling of dread.

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.

In the 20th century a period known as the Cold War occurred, involving an ideological battle between the United States and Russia that was fought on the front of countries, such as Korea, China, and Vietnam. The people of America grew fearful of communism, believing it would undermine their values and take away democracy, and capitalism. Because communist values appealed to many people, Americans feared communist influence believing it would destroy democracy and freedom like it had in Korea, China, Vietnam, and other countries. In America, senator Joseph McCarthy began accusing old communist party sympathizers, who at some time had supported communism were now under suspicion from the government and general public. This support may have cost them their jobs, friends, and even family as fear of communism spread like a wildfire. What was happening in America was essentially a witch-hunt. Government officials faced a series of tests to prove their loyalty, and Hollywood actors were blacklisted if they refused to rat out any communist employees. This period in time is known as the Red Scare. In 1953, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in response to the Red Scare to compare current events at the time to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Miller uses his allegorical tale to reveal the truths behind McCarthyism, presenting a serious warning to the Americans of the history of false accusations, crowd hysteria, abuse of power, and the repercussions that soon follow them.

Many similarities can be found between the McCarthy period and the events of The Crucible. In the 1950’s, communists in America were sought after and punished for their beliefs. In The Crucible, women accused of witchcraft were sought after and, as a more severe punishment, killed for their actions. Senator Joseph McCarthy can be compared to Abigail from The Crucible because they both put forth many false accusations. McCarthy falsely accused over 200 government officials of being communists (McCarthyism). Likewise, Abigail accused many townspeople of being witches. In The Crucible, the government of Salem hung people simply for not admitting to being a witch even if it was a false statement. If someone was accused of being a witch however, they could lie and say that someone else was forcing their spirit on them and then the second person would be to blame. So, when Abigail was being accused of witchcraft instead of defending her innocence she blames other women for being with the devil so they would be punished instead of her. While being accused Abigail calls out the names of girls she does not like and says, “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller). The three women Abigail named were innocent and had to go through investigations after

This event is similar to the actions of President Truman in the Second Red Scare. Truman believed that the government was not being infiltrated by Communists, but as fear and paranoia set in within the United States, he compromised his ideals to remain in power and in favor of the people, “At first, [Truman] was outraged at the allegation of widespread Communist infiltration of the government and called the charge of ‘coddling Communists’ a red herring dragged in by the Republicans to bring down the Democrats. But such was the gathering power of raw belief in the great Soviet plot that Truman soon felt it necessary to institute loyalty boards of his own” (“Why I Wrote The Crucible”). Through this parallel, Miller is highlighting the theme of the The Crucible which is the private integrity vs public reputation. Both men gave up their private integrities to uphold their public reputation in fear of the people they governed. This then leads to the fear and mob mentality that is present in both Salem and the McCarthy Era.

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.

In the McCarthy era if the people in the U.S were communist you would be blacklisted and in The Crucible this symbolizes as being hanged or punished. In The Crucible, Elizabeth says that many people were hanged after the trails (Miller 207). In the McCarthy trails, “three hundred and twenty artists were blacklisted….this meant the end of exceptional and promising careers (“McCarthyism” 217).” Therefore, the success of Abigail Williams and Joseph McCarthy in destroying people’s lives and achievement the panic of the people connects to the consequences of the both

“The only thing you have to fear is fear itself”, said Benjamin Franklin. This statement is truly a key theme in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Miller demonstrated how the fear of witches and the power of one of the characters lead to numerous injustices. The main character, Abigail Williams is the character that uses this fear and her power to wrongly accuse innocent people and create injustices. In Herb Block’s cartoons “We Now Have New and Important Evidence” and “I Have Now Here in My Hand…” both showed how the fear of communism and the power that Senator McCarthy had in Washington created wrongful accusations and injustices. My goal of this essay is to demonstrate how fear and power were used to create many injustices and how these themes were also prevalent in McCarthyism.

“The state department is infested with communists”-Joe McCarthy. These such accusations by Joseph McCarthy were the inspiration for The Crucible. When Arthur Miller was accused of Communism he wrote The Crucible to criticize McCarthy for his evidenceless accustons. In both Arthur Miller’s play and McCarthy’s accusation innocent people's lives were ruined for the betterment of another’s life. The Crucible is Arthur Miller’s story about the Salem Witchcraft trials, which was a real event in which many people were tried, found guilty of witchcraft, and hung. Years after these trials the people of salem figured out that no one was actually guilty of witchcraft. In these two cases Communism and witchcraft are the parallels, both being community destroying terrors that must be eradicated. This is

This was what led to the hysteria. The connection between these two points is that the circumstances of the hysteria were caused by the people being afraid and suspicious of each other. The McCarthy era led to many people fearing others, thinking that everyone was a communist. While, during The Crucible the witch trials led to many people fearing others thinking that everyone was a witch. The hysteria that the people in both, the witch trials and the McCarthy hearings, felt was the main reason as to why both events reached the levels

Fear and paranoia in society Throughout history paranoia and fear have ruled many human lives from places of power to places of poverty. In Arthur Miller’s play the Crucible the people in Salem have gone crazy with fear because someone cried witch. McCarthyism refers to when McCarthy held his own witch trails except it was with communists. They both have similarities that led to bad decisions and worse outcomes. The crucible is an example of how people can be swept up into the havoc and chaos around them.

Throughout history people have had fears of a group or culture that they believe are evil, or are a threat. In the 1600?s people feared witchcraft because they believed that it was evil. This belief is not very different from the 1950?s beliefs when Americans feared Communism, and big government taking over their lives.[endnoteRef:2] Many Americans also feared the threat of Black Americans being equal in status to White Americans during the Civil Rights movement. Although the crucible takes place in 1692, Salem, it reflects the concerns of 1950?s American life and is an allegory for the Red Scare, and Homosexuality. [2: Wall, Wendy. "Anti-Communism in the 1950s." www.gilderlehrman.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. .]