The Crucible Speech Analysis

The date is June 6th, 1984, and American President Ronald Reagan stands solemnly before a massive stone monument on what he calls "a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France." On this historic day, the President of the United States stands solemnly before a small crowd of some of the bravest men living. The men assembled before him know these cliffs well. These are the Rangers who scaled the cliffs 40 years ago to do more than win the cliffs on the shores of Normandy. These are the Rangers who began the retaking of the entirety of Europe from Axis Control. That was 40 years ago, now only 90 of the original 225 sit before him now. All that can be heard are the crash of the waves on beach below and the occasional cry of a seagull

Through the thousands of years in which humans have existed on this planet, fear has been a powerful factor in the ever-continuing fight for power over our fellow man. As seen throughout history, fear has been used throughout many dictatorships, like the extensive use by Stalin and how he led Russia. Anyone who spoke against the government was taken, leading to greater power for Stalin. This same theme can be seen in the movie Good Night and Good Luck as well as the book and movie, The Crucible. When a seed of fear is planted, whether it be a rumor or something that may have occurred, it can spread like wildfire.

Due to this specific part of freedom, people were not supposed to be treated any differently by the government for their political belief, but senator Joseph McCarthy did not respect the individual liberty which was given to each person. McCarthy decided that since he had more power being senator of Wisconsin, it meant he had the power to take away the liberty of a man and divert a man’s beliefs by disrespecting and treating them differently due to their political stance.

During the time of the “Red Scare” McCarthy stated that he “loved to manipulate people,” (Oakley 207). He was able to “swagger” in the meeting and he knew that he could stir up “turmoil and confusion” at a moment’s notice. Once

Fear can be a person’s strongest, or weakest, part of how we react to things considered threatening. McCarthy used people’s fear to gain power, he gained a lot by claiming that people in high government positions were conversing with a formidable enemy. In one of his speeches, McCarthy held up a piece of paper, claiming it listed 224 names of Americans that had ties with communists. Although this list was never shown to anyone but McCarthy, no one tried to get the accused people freed from their charges of treason. The reason for this was that anyone who questioned the truth, or anyone who knew the truth and tried to get it public, was accused of communism and ‘taken care of’. (spartacus education) The fear and accusations McCarthy put on people was similar to a character in Arthur

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” What is fear? Fear can be a noun or a verb. In the noun form, it is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. In the verb form, it is to be afraid of someone or something that is dangerous, painful, or threatening. If one person looks into fear, then that person becomes feared. But imagine a whole society or community looking into fear. The fear not only gets larger as it spreads, but it also gets more fearful than it already is. The power of fear can be displayed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and in Ronald Oakley’s “The Great Fear”. As fear moves on from one mind to the next, it leaves the

In “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, the Puritans cultural anxieties were witchcraft and fear of associating with the devil. During the Red Scare, America’s cultural anxiety was the spread of communism. In both events, there is an increase in mass hysteria. During these times, many people became paranoid and afraid of their surroundings. Because of these fears, people were willing to do anything in order to protect themselves.

Fear stalks humanity wherever it goes. It feeds on our panic and uncertainty. This is seen throughout 1692, the 1950s, and the present, when a leader with great power creates a solution to a problem that people did not even know they had to fear people begin to fear as well as the cycle of innocent people falsely confessing adding to the fear.

He also strongly believed the greater enemy is within our own nation. McCarthy stated, “It has not been the less fortunate or members of the minority group who have been selling this nation out, but rather those who have had all the benefits that the wealthiest nations on the earth has had to offer…” This shows our bigger enemy was within the government, such as the inside people that would sell out our information. One of the accused, John Service, had a report to kill Chiang Kai-shek (the leader fighting against communism in China). His reasoning behind this was he thought China’s best chance to survive economically is to be communist. After this report, he was called a communist and was singled out. After Service, the American people got more sensitive about the issue, seeing the possibilities. The whole country was ruled by fear. Ronald Reagan said, “I never as a citizen want to see our country become urged , by either fear or resentment of this group.” He knew what was going to happen if these unfair trials

Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible and David Rothkopf’s TED Talk How Fear Drives America Politics are two significant texts that emphasise a fundamental political message that remains timeless throughout both the Puritan society within the world of the play and the contemporary society of Miller and Rothkopf. Ultimately the use of fear in order to gain political advantage and control the masses is a profound power present in the political dimension that is explored within both these texts and offers personal insight into the McCarthy era of the Cold War that Miller was subjected to and the post-9/11 hysteria that gripped America when Rothkopf was emerging as a prominent journalist. Miller’s depiction of Abigail and the girls in particular and

His accusations generated national interest and gained him a significant amount of fame, or rather, infamy. However, it was later found out that the piece of paper he’d been holding during that speech had merely been his laundry receipt (Bates). Even so, McCarthy was already well on his way to becoming one of the most notable communist “hunters” in U.S. history.

1950’s America also highlights the danger of abusing fear. Congressmen of the era had exceptional control over public opinion and many used it to gain media attention and strengthen their chances for reelection. One example of a particularly notorious and ambitions politician was Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin who decided that he would use fear to raise himself from obscurity into the public’s eye. McCarthy created a state of panic when he falsely accused thousands of governmental officials of being communist sympathizers and spies. The resulting pandemonium damaged the reputation and lives of hundreds of Americans and most importantly spurred a period of governmental disillusionment. Machiavelli would see McCarthy as a violator of the rules of fear and would predict that he would be hated by the people. As time has proven “McCarthyism” has become synonymous with witch hunting and is widely regarded as exploitive, McCarthy himself left congress a disgrace.

The First and Second Red Scare of the United States paved the way for a long standing fear of communism and proved to be one of America’s largest periods of mass hysteria. Throughout the years authors and analysts have studied and formed expository albeit argumentative books and articles in an attempt to further understand this period of time; the mindset held during this period however is shown to be completely different compared to now.

Fear can lead to a lot of things, but unfortunately, in humans it usually leads to something bad. Throughout history, fear has lead to some of the most violent actions by man, and some of the biggest collapses of organized society. In early American history, the people of Salem experienced this for themselves. Arthur Miller shows this in his book. The society of Salem that Miller creates in The Crucible shows how fear can slowly cause rational thought to deteriorate, leading to mass hysteria and eventually the breakdown of civilized behavior.

Joseph McCarthy, the notorious US senator who causes the McCarthyism era in the 1940s to the 1960s to arise, deceives the American people to lose trust with each other because of suspicion of Communism. McCarthy does not have a really great reputation before following the route of corruption. He simply over exaggerates the growing tension of Communism credits from President Harry Truman’s speech. His reign continues to grow until, “In early 1954 he opened hearings investigating the promotion of an Army dentist, Irving Peress, who was suspected of being a Communist. The Army-McCarthy hearings were televised and made for grand theater as McCarthy sparred with the Army's counsel Joseph Welch” (Capps). Joseph McCarthy is an arrogant and an overconfident man who thinks he can win every court cases until the very end. He believes that whatever