Witch Hunts In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

American playwright, Arthur Miller, in his play The Crucible (1952), suggests that witch hunts still exist in American society. Miller supports this claim by drawing parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and the Senator Joseph McCarthy Trials. His purpose is to warn his readers of the dangers of mass hysteria. He uses emotional appeals (pathos) and logic (logos) to convince the reader that mass “hunts” are still a danger to Americans today. The main way, however, that Miller achieves his ultimate goal of demonstrating the dangers of individuality vs. ideology is through the vivid characterization of Mary Warren. Mary Warren is an example of an outwardly conforming character because in the play she tells Abigail that she wants to tell

You are guilty of witch-craft, and you will be hanged immediately! In “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, written in 1953, was written during the Red Scare when people would get blacklisted for being associated with Communism. Arthur Miller published this book in order to get the message across of what was happening with McCarthyism, but instead this book deals with witch-craft in Salem. People were accused of being witches and allying with the devil. Many of them were being executed till they confessed or gave them a name of the people dealing with the devil. Innocent people were being punished due to people having more of an authority as others, especially if they have a good name in the village like Abigail. Elizabeth Proctor is a woman of God and is accused of witch-craft by Abigail. Also Elizabeth is motivated by anger and jealousy, after she finds out her husband has been cheating on her with Abigail, she decides to make him feel guilty, which leads him to confess to witch-craft.

The Salem Witch Trials were a terrible ordeal that changed the small city of Salem, Massachusetts and numerous people’s lives forever. During these trials, innocent individuals were persecuted and put to death. People were terrified of the supposed witches’ power, and many made false accusations through acting odd or speaking of things they had never seen. The Salem Witch Trials were one of the craziest persecutions in history, and a huge government fail, where many blameless people were killed because of lies, deception, and fear.

Adolf Hitler once said,“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” Lies as seen in The Crucible are told frequently, the biggest and most important lies being told by John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Elizabeth Proctor. The Crucible contains many lies throughout the play, intertwining with each other some leading to the death of John Proctor. During the 1950s, with McCarthyism and Joe McCarthy rising to power by falsely accusing others of being communists, during the second red scare. Lies that lead to catastrophes as seen in The Crucible, are the cause of people’s deaths and spread like wildfires until they consume everything in their path.

Many crucial events lead to the Salem Witch trials. The trials ended in a gruesome manner, and conflicts were at the root of the cause. The Salem Witch trials were the result of illogical-mass hysteria, and were induced by grudge holding people who used the trials to harm their foes.

There are strong parallels between Arthur Miller's The Crucible and the history it depicts and the reign of terror that the 1950's era of McCarthyism repeated. These two historical events are linked by several commonalities: a lack of intelligent discussion, public hysteria, threats, fear and finally, the presumption of guilt rather than innocence. Miller convincingly uses fiction and dialogue to recreate a very real moment in history, which due to the timing of the play's release may also have been purposely created as a response to the actions of Joseph McCarthy.

The crucible takes place in Salem in 1692. Several girls were dancing in the woods which was very abnormal and considered a form of witchcraft. The doctor who examined them concluded it was witchcraft. To get the heat off of their backs they started accusing others in the village of performing witchcraft. Many accusations were made and others started accusing others which lead to many people being hung and arrested. Abigail Williams and Betty were in the group of girls that were caught dancing in the woods. They were the first to start accusing others to get the pressure off of them. John proctors wife, Elizabeth proctor gets accused. John then goes to the court to explain how everybody is lying and falsely accusing people to save themselves.

There were many important themes and symbols that I noticed were crucial in Miller’s The Crucible. One theme that was evident in the play was prejudice or intolerance. The play is set in a theocratic society, a form of government in which God or a deity is recognized as the supreme civil ruler, the God 's or deity 's laws being interpreted by the ecclesiastical authorities. Religion then becomes a strict, severe form of Protestantism or Puritanism. Because of the governmental structure this society, moral and state laws in turn become one and the same: sin and the status of one’s soul becomes the concern of the public. In other words, an individual’s actions and deeds is a reflection on their society. This society does not accept any deviation from the norms of society. Any individual whose life doesn’t conform to views and laws of this society not only affects or threatens public or society, but also poses a threat to the rule of God and true religion. To my understanding of the play, in the town of Salem, everything and everyone either belongs to God or to the devil. If an individual rejects the established laws of their society. Then this act is considered unlawful, meaning that the act of opposition against your society is viewed as satanic or devilish. This division or disagreement functions as the deep rooted logic behind the witch trials. As Danforth says in Act III, “a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it.” The witch trials represent and

In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the author reflects the persecution of communists in America in the 1950’s through a recount of the Salem witch trials. It is often presumed that Miller based his drama directly off of events that were particularly prevalent in the years surrounding the publication of The Crucible- which was released in the year 1953, towards the conclusion of the Korean War. Although there was not a literal witch hunt occurring during this time period, America was in a state of paranoia due to an enemy that was seemingly even more terrifying than witches: this time, America was looking for communists to burn at the stake. With heavy influences, such as Senator Joseph McCarthy weighing on him, Miller wrote about the historic Salem witch trials to create a juxtaposition to the anti-communist delirium that was consuming America in the era in which he lived. By highlighting the off-balance nature of order and personal freedoms within a society, Arthur Miller was able to communicate a timeless message, that is applicable throughout American history, and is still relevant in the twenty-first century. He emphasizes the necessary sacrifice every individual is forced to make as a means of maintaining our community, as well as the implications, both positive and negative, that come along with doing so. Whether it be in the form of Japanese-American citizens being stripped of their rights after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the

Witch hunts still today are world wide. The witch hunts today may not be like the ones seen in McCarthyism and in the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller. One modern day witch hunt would be how society battles against fat. Some people are said to be not good enough, ugly, or a bad person if they are not stick thin. Seeing and hearing about modern day witch hunts gives the readers of The Crucible and reachers of McCarthyism a better in sight of the situations. McCarthyism and The Crucible are similar to the concept of the witch hunts, but the consequences are rather different.

The 1996 film The Crucible is a fictional account of the Salem witch trials. While there are many historical inaccuracies in the movie, it does capture some of the themes in scholarship on the period. The film presents the town of Salem in a similar way to how it is depicted in the textbook. The film gets the basic outline of the Salem witch trials right. A group of girls started a panic by accusing an enslaved woman and two other women of bewitching them. During the event more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 19 people were hanged, the large majority of them women (Boyer, Salem Witchcraft, 1).

In the Play “ The Crucible” by Arthur Miller. The play is full of suspense, mysterious, and tragedy. Based on the play we can see the same thing that happened a long time ago is happening again throughout the years. The Salem Witch Trial has been according in Modern years. For example The Holocaust, The 911 terrorist attack, and many more events throughout the years. There were innocent people that we accused and blamed for things they have not done like in The Salem Witch Trials. In the 1600s, many England immigrants’ settled in New England. Many immigrants were Puritans and the Puritans didn’t like their church in England. They were very devoted people because they would read the bible and had strict rules in the community. In the 17th century, witchcraft was a crime in their town. In 1620 - 1700, sixteen colonists were executed. This execution happen because of Betty Parris which she was nine years old and her cousin Abigail Williams which she was eleven years old. Every month they would hang different people that was accused of witchcraft because that way they would have a lot of people watching the hangings in the town. Many innocent people were killed due to to jealousy, lying girls, and the town division by wealth and power. The Salem Witch Trials Hysteria of 1692 was caused by jealousy, lying girls, and due to the town division by wealth and power.

The Salem witch trials demonstrate the opposite approach to gaining land and power from those on the frontier. They began when several girls accused women of witchcraft to cover up their own crimes. As accusations and counter accusations flew, most of Salem was encircled in the mess. A court was convened, and sentenced 19 people to death, many of them for not confessing. But beneath the lessons about witch trials is another story about the struggles of those on the frontier. The accusers were predominantly from the western portion of Salem, Salem Village, and the accused were from the east. Salem Village was growing and seeking greater independence and power. Meanwhile, the population boom in New England and the fact that non landowning men could not vote lead to powerful incentives. Accusing someone to gain their land, and so wealth and status, would be sensible. The incentives at play for those on the frontier led to a series of actions that would seem perplexing, but were reasonable for those taking them. But the outsiders in society failed in this conflict too. There was little change in their status in society, and the accusers even lost social status, as was shown in the Crucible. Meanwhile, the accused and the relatives of the executed were compensated by the government. In the end, the Salem Witch Trials did not result in a victory for outsiders in society, but only in further elite consolidation of power.

Witchcraft: the perfect crime to accuse someone of. You do not need proof, you just need a crowd of people to believe you. In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, many characters are accused of the invisible crime, witchcraft, and given how this is Salem, Massachusetts in the late 17th century, there is a solid crowd of people to believe the accusers. However, there is one man, the “Expert on Witches”, that stands against this call and tries to fight back. One man is there to combat the lunacy of the crowd. That man is Reverend Hale, and though others might argue against it, he is not responsible for the trials that took place, and he in fact was trying to stop them.

Have you ever had a finger pointed at you unfairly? If so, how would that feel? Despite being a country that has fairness and justice as core values, the United States has been and is currently a neutral witness to such events, which has caused irreparable damage. When these events have occurred in the U.S., the targets were usually a certain group of people who were highly feared in society. Targeting a group in this manner was known as a “witch hunt.” In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, he discusses how a small suspicion of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts during colonial times ultimately escalated to hysteria and destruction of innocent life. While the Salem Witch Trials were the most quintessential example of a “witch hunt”, similar instances sadly reappeared in different forms during the 20th century.