Accused, outcast, alone, and afraid. You might associate it with The Crucible if I told you those simple adjectives, but they also correlate with the Red Scare; the sole basis of inspiration for The Crucible. The Crucible is a play that was created to enact change in the American society. The author, Arthur Miller did this by taking a historic event such as the Salem witch trials which now are perceived as terrible and wrong. Then, the author connected it into their modern society for them to realize the obvious wrongdoings of the past were happening in front of their very own eyes, just in an unusual way, the red scare and effects of McCarthyism. By capturing the injustices of the court and the lies spread against others to get them arrested, …show more content…
They spent countless hours drilling fear into them causing worry and panic throughout their societies. They used this to their advantage by killing many they did not like. Furthermore, this became a predominant issue in McCarthyism by neighbors simply not liking them, all it took was for them to call them a commie to ruin their entire livelihood and be locked away in jail. Abigail Williams actively demonstrated this in the crucible, “I want to open myself! I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” In this quote Abigail twists her words into blaming several women she does not like to cause disarray throughout the town and instill trepidation in all people. This connects to the Red Scare because of the fear and agitation people were willing to sell one another out or accuse one another for personal …show more content…
They say he give them but two words. ‘More weight,’ he says. And died… It were a fearsome man.” This connects to McCarthyism because often those incriminated were put in difficult places where they would lose. The same is in the crucible where they could either confess to witchcraft and save their lives or tell the truth and pay the price of death. In McCarthyism, they were socially cast out no matter what and the “stones’ represent the burdens place so heavily on the alleged Russian spies. Francis Nurse was the one who died speaking what he believed in, while many of the accused spies killed themselves to escape the heavy burdens, that were placed so heavily onto
In the history, there are have many major events that have affected the times we live in. Two of the major events of our time are the Witch-hunt of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. In these two events, there are many similarities like anger, fear, and Consequence. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red scare in the McCarthy Era because the example is McCarthy accused many people of being part of the communist party. It is said to have been a modern-day witch hunt, and it showed another example of a time period in which false and unsettling accusations led to forced confessions.
Guilty Even if Not Because of false accusations, many lives have been demolished throughout history. A play written by Arthur Miller,The Crucible, where a group of girls got accused of witchcraft moreover, they were faking it in order to act up as well as accuse people they disliked turning it into a long time wasting uproar, which getting people killed for loathing that person. McCarthyism is when McCarthy starts accusing people of communism for his sake. People made accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence. Arthur Miller used The Crucible as a criticism of Senator Joseph McCarthy and his actions by comparing being accused of witchcraft and not confessing to witchcraft from the play to being accused of communism
The play The Crucible and the rise of McCarthyism as discussed by Fitzgerald in the Red Scare both demonstrate how human nature reacts when confronted with the threat of false accusation and wrong doing. The Crucible is an allegory of the United States during the time of the Cold War in the 1950’s and the rise of McCarthysim under USA senator Joseph McCarthy. The accusations suffered by many characters in The Crucible for witchcraft and the resulting aftermath as the town of Salem reacts to these events. These accusations mirror on how Senator McCarthy, through the FBI, accused many government employees, agents and civilians of being Communists (Fitzgerald 44). In both cases, the accusations were made in the absence of evidence to support them,
Although the people that tried helping the convicted had it difficult, the people that were actually in trouble had it a lot worse. The lives of anyone that was accused of either of the crimes was ruined. Elizabeth Proctor lost her freedom, her children, and her husband. McCarthy made an extensive list of all the people that he believed were communist and one of those people was Val Lorwin.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “the term McCarthyism is applied to the persecution of innocent people using powerful but unproved allegations”. This very idea is prevalent throughout the Crucible, even more so within the court gatherings. An example of this is found within ACT IV of the novel,
The term McCarthyism was adopted in the 1950s by one Joseph McCarthy, a Republican senator who used his power to ensure that communism was not spread throughout the United States. This time period is known as the “Red Scare”, in which McCarthy accused 205 officials from the U.S. Department of State of being communists or communist sympathizers. Not only were US officials targeted, but many of those involved in the entertainment business got blacklisted when they would refuse to answer questions about their involvement with the Communist Party at the time. Consequently, this caused the public to avalanche into a state of mass hysteria and paranoia because no one wanted to be accused of such a crime knowing that this could cause major repercussions.
McCarthyism and Arthur Miller's “The Crucible” share many similar qualities regarding the actions of society when aroused with a certain fear. It was distinctly seen first in the 1600s during the Salem Witch Trials, which is portrayed through the play, “The Crucible”. It happened when talk of witchcraft scattered the town of Salem, making everyone hysterical and constantly accusing people of being witches without proof. Behavior similar to this came back in the mid 1900s when society was accusing people of being communist during a time of fearing Hitler. The claims of supposed communists were involved in the idea of McCarthyism.
McCarthyism was the fear of communism which spread across America in the 1950s. The hysteria of the American citizens was due to the threat that communism would spread across the globe. The government has accused many people of communism,
Abigail was one of the antagonists of the crucible, she does many awful things such as threats and with the help of the other girls ruins many lives. She and the girls represent Mcarthy and his team who ruined many lives and were very harsh in their strategies and investigations. Finally, the whole of the people doing cruel and insane things due to fear, and the exact same thing occurring during the red scare where neighbors would call the authorities on each other and such. The red scare and crucible are very similar in how things are handled, and many are on
It was derived from the fear and hatred they had deep inside them. Mccarthy used this plot to get rid of his opponents and secure him a prime spot for a next term as a senator. McCarthy’s trials were no different to The Salem witch trials by raising suspitions he was able to destroy lives with a written list. Although people tried to contradict his allegations the majority’s fear of communists clouded the court’s judgement. They had no remorse for the aftermath of their doings.
McCarthyism and The Crucible caused a feeling of hysteria and paranoia in all the people that were accused and others that were not accused. Abigail Williams and McCarthy had no evidence on the people accused except rumors that were
McCarthyism was a vociferous campaign against alleged communists in the US government. Many of the accused were blacklisted or lost their jobs, although most did not in fact belong to the Communist Party. In these two events, many similarities
In the Crucible those who were accused of being guilty, put on trial, and who are expected to confess. Unsuccessful to that led to death. In McCarthy, the media were not disposed to stand up to Senator McCarthy for the fear of being accused of being a Communist. Fear is the main factor playing in both situations, terror of being accused or what people might say, or think.
Throughout history the fear of corruption and change has compelled people to go to drastic measures to prevent it. The Crucible, a play by arthur Miller, is set in an environment of religious citizens who fear that the devil and witchcraft will corrupt their society. Much like The Crucible, McCarthyism caused the citizens in America to fear corruption of the government by communism. Arthur Miller used his play the crucible as a direct response to McCarthyism and through this play Miller writes about the Salem witch trials during the McCarthy period to comment on how history repeats itself. The social and political factors in The Crucible resemble those in America during the red scare and McCarthyism.
Also, since The Crucible was written to be parallel to McCarthyism, the same idea is shown. The same situation can be seen in The Crucible as Arthur Miller was influenced by the events that occurred during McCarthyism. In the Crucible, anyone whose name that had been mentioned underwent an investigation and was asked to prove that they were not partaking in witchcraft. Because this task was impossible, the court made rash decisions such as sending people to jail or sentencing them to be hanged. This scenario is seen in the crucible when Rebecca Nurse is accused.