The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay

Forcing people to think if he could write a story such as that, then he was guilty himself, many others were also jailed. Arthur Miller knew that his stories could force him to be put in jail and punished, but that did not stop him being that he was a writer and his wife was an actress. Arthur took it personally and knew it meant that McCarthyism would affect them tremendously too, that is the reason Arthur felt incredibly strong about McCarthyism going on in America not being right, because it was not only happening to strangers, it was his friends and family. This is why Arthur Miller decided to do his best by influencing writers, musicians, authors, and people in general with the story The Crucible(Arthur Miller, The Blacklist) . “As McCarthyism, the paranoid hunt for infiltrators was notoriously difficult on writers and entertainers, of whom were labeled communist sympathizers and were unable to continue working” (Arthur Miller, The Blacklist). McCarthyism was controlling America and ruining his friends and families lives and the careers of innocent people. Arthur Miller needed a way to stand up and catch people's attention by teaching people in the way he new

Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. He wrote this because of his personal experiences with the Communist Witch Trials. Miller was known for always sharing his opinion out to the community. During this time Senator Joseph McCarthy play a major role in trying to prevent communism from spreading. Miller was an easy target for McCarthy and was accused of being a Communist. This caused Miller to become one of many victims of the Communist witch trials and her served time in jail. The Communist witch trials was what influenced Miller to write his play about the Salem witch trials in the 1600’s.The Crucible mimicked issues that both societies had. The play also exposed Senator Joseph McCarthy for abusing his political power. The play is mainly

In Miller’s lifetime, McCarthyism was happening. The Red Scare in the 1950s made everyone in the United States afraid of what communists in the United States might do to them. This intolerance between communists and non-communists caused distrust, suspicions, and mass hysteria during the Cold War in the United States, as it did in seventeenth century Salem. A person’s reputation during McCarthyism, however, could hurt them more then

The McCarthy hearings in the 1950s were during the red scare when many people were pointing fingers at each other. Like the Salem witch trials, McCarthyism was a crazy period of time, and there was mass hysteria. The red scare was when everyone believed there were communist in the United States. Miller is trying to point out the similarities between McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials. He is trying to open people's eyes and hopefully make people think twice before they believe someone. Miller is pointing out specifically that scapegoating is used in both McCarthyism and in

Arthur Miller saw people's paranoia. He noticed this from the things he heard come from the mouth of senator Mccarthy such as. ‘’Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity.’’ Words like this coming from someone so high really shook people. A product of McCarthy’s work was the horrible view of the accused and how their families cut off all ties with them. After seeing stories like this Arthur felt compelled to speak out against the scare. On the topic he said things like this “It would probably never have occurred to me to write a play about the Salem witch trials of 1692 had I not seen

1. What is a crucible and how is it used? Justify Miller’s choice of title for his play.

McCarthy was a Michigan senator who believed that anyone he didn't agree with was a communist. In retaliation Miller wrote a play called The Crucible that was an allegory for the persecution of so called “communists”. This is because of the uncanny parallels between the story and real life events the mass hysteria, the lack of evidence, and the safety of the public in court. These all point to the play being an allegory for the McCarthy period.

He was convicted of contempt for not cooperating with the court and giving them names of communists, even if he was not one and would not know of any in the first place. His passport was taken away by the government, assumingly so that he would not go to the Soviet Union and leak information to their government. However, the only thing it prevented him from doing was going to Brussels to see the premier of his play. Miller’s involvement in McCarthyism led to his portrayal of the Salem Witch Trials in The Crucible because he believed that the investigations happening in the United States were nothing more than a witch hunt. Many connections between the trials of the 1690s and those of the Cold-War Era can be made. The most notable one is the fact that in both cases, the chaos that ensued was a result of nothing more than the fear of the unwanted from those in society. In Salem, the unwanted were the witches, who were workers of Satan in their very religious Puritan society. In the United States, the problem was the communists, the products of an increasingly-popular governmental system overseas that “normal” Americans did not agree with, and were afraid it would take over. In the end, the point that Miller was trying to make with his The Crucible was that McCarthyism was really just as foolish as the Salem Witch Trials, and with the play he was trying to make people realize

In this article, Arthur Miller began by describing what was going through his head when he noticed how The Crucible took off. McCarthyism was really a big deal when it came to Communism. Arthur Miller had a lot of desperation when it came to writing. He read about the witchcraft trials when he was college. He knew he had to write about witchcraft after reading a book by Charles W. Upham. Arthur Miller actually went to visit Salem and he read transcripts of the witchcraft trials.

They killed for no reason; the tortured souls were prosecuted and executed without a cause. The devastating play Arthur Miller wrote in 1953 shook the post-World War Two world and quickly began its way to the top of the playwrights world. He displays the horrendous acts in The Crucible by focusing on the agony that was caused, lies that were told, and devastation that was given around a Puritan culture telling the story in a seventeenth-century society focusing on the Salem Witch Trials. This play was written over half a century ago and still influences individuals across the world today. Communism is rampant in today’s world, yet Miller created an allegory in The Crucible, uniting the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials as one. In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller melds several different types of symbolism throughout his play to caution his audience about the dangers

The Crucible by Arthur Miller was probably one of the most breathtaking plays of his time. Taking place during 1692 it talked about the Salem Witch Trials mostly, what happened, who was accused, how did it start, and how did it end. He did an amazing job describing the scenes, using actual names of the people at the time, and the actual events in chronological order. Throughout the play he also hit on a major idea during the time which was known as McCarthyism, where Arthur miller himself was accused of being a Communist. In addition with the creation of The Crucible came the creation of new ideas and new ways of interpreting plays. Themes such as reputation, religion, and revenge help people more easily interpret the play. Overall Arthur Miller has done many great plays, which sparked a chain reaction in making The Crucible and getting accused of being a Communist in the era of McCarthyism.

After writing The Crucible, Arthur Miller came under scrutiny of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The play was an allegory for McCarthyism, symbolizing how the Salem witch trials of 1692 were similar to Joseph McCarthy’s claims happening at the current time. Miller refused to comply with the demands of HUAC and was cited in contempt of Congress. Two years later,

During his writing of the crucible, Arthur Miller reflected his own personal experiences into the ideologies occurring throughout the book. The argument of McCarthyism being reflected throughout the story is very evident. During the 1940s and 1950s Americans were overcome with the thought of communism possibly reaching America, due to its major growth throughout Asia and Eastern Europe. These concerns began to develop in the US government, with young senator, Joseph McCarthy, taking particular concern. Exploiting already present fear of communism among American people, McCarthy public announced that more than two hundred “card-carrying” communists had infiltrated the United States government. Although these accusations where later confirmed to be false, McCarthy’s pursuit towards allegation of communism became the center of political tensions. During his anti-communism campaign, McCarthy became known for his paranoid, ridiculous and obscure accusations upon any well-known individuals during the time. This system

After reading The Crucible, one might be able to notice many forms of symbolism Miller used from McCarthy and what he went through. Mrs. Walker was capable of answering all of the questions I had prepared. I continued with the interview and asked, is there any relationship or symbolism between McCarthy and The Crucible? She responded, “The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism ruined the lives of innocent people. They were not willing to stand up because they did not want to be accused of a communist or witch.” Whereas, on the other hand, you had people in both situations willing to falsely accuse someone of communism. Why would anyone choose to accuse people of something that they were not even sure they did? They felt like, if they pointed the finger at other people, it would take the attention off people beginning

Miller’s play and McCarthyism are similar because they both take innocent people and accuse them of something absolutely ridiculous. The evidence presented in some cases can be explained by common sense, but everyone falls for the tricks and the whole town/country spirals into panic. Miller’s own experience with mob mentality