Similarities Between The Crucible And Mccarthy

The Crucible, an allegorical play, was written by Arthur Miller because he observed and personally experienced events occurring in America during the McCarthyism Era in the 1950s that were similar to those of the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692. Now, there are various ways to how the Crucible and the McCarthyism Era are similar, these reasons being the strongest ones. McCarthyism and the Crucible both contained the idea of higher status people having the most power in these situations. To illustrate, Abby accuses the wife of a government man in the Crucible movie. Danforth tells Abby that she must be mistaken and that she should rethink about it again.

Bailey Voss Busick English 3 MYP 25 January 2023 The Crucible and McCarthyism There are many parallels between the Crucible written by Auther Miller and the act of McCarthyism. Including the need for power, and the need to be in control. There was also a large theme of fear during these times, weather it was fulled from each other or fulled from these in a position of power. The witch trails and the red scare took part almost 225 years apart from each other, but both had very similar themes across the way.

Both Mccarthyism and The Crucible have defendants that were guilty until proven innocent. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible and was involved in the trials of McCarthyism. The men in the HUAC trials tried many actors to see if they were involved in an established communist group. This was called the ‘red scare’. This was similar to the trials in the 1600s’ Called the Salem Witch trials.

Both McCarthyism and the Crucible had a crime that had very limited evidence and could not be fully proven without a confession. This is one of the biggest parallels because of how it was handled in both the real life events and in the story. Instead of being suspicious of the easily falsified evidence, people trusted it full heartedly. Even though, during his first speech on the subject, McCarthy stated he had “a list of two hundred and five” names and then changed it multiple times people didn’t get suspicious. It went to “the names of 57 communists who are in the State Department” for the president, then “in the following weeks, McCarthy bumped this number up to 81 and then shaved it down to 10”(document C).

What are the parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism? The book, The Crucible, made by Arthur Miller and The word McCarthyism are similar to each other. McCarthyism is about the accusation of many people of being a communist by Joseph McCarthy and The Crucible talks about how innocent people were accused of being witches because of some misunderstanding. Both are separate things but are very similar to each other in many ways. The questioning or blacklisting of many people in McCarthyism and the Crucible are similar to each other.

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, was written in response to the abuses of power under McCarthyism, a period in the 1950s when the United States government conducted a witch hunt for supposed communists. The play draws parallels between the Salem witch trials of 1692 in Massachusetts and the Red Scare and its investigations in the 1950s. McCarthyism led to the false accusations of thousands of people, and those accused lost their jobs. Similarly, the Salem witch trials had false accusations that led to the deaths and imprisonment of hundreds. We can see another parallel in more modern situations where people use their power to prosecute others.

History repeating itself:The Crucible and McCarthyism The Crucible and McCarthyism is like history repeating itself. Both events are very parallel in many ways! The Crucible consists of how people were treated during the Salem witch trials in the 1690s and McCarthyism took place in 1940s/1950s it consists of how people were accused and treated as a threat to the government. The Crucible and McCarthyism both are parallel by accused people making sacrifices to prove innocence,abuse of great power and the effects of hysteria in both events. Looking back, One similarity on how the Crucible and McCarthyism are parallel is because of the sacrifice people made because they did

The Similarities between The Crucible and McCarthyism In 2009, the Swine flu epidemic brought fear and hysteria to the United States. The new and dangerous disease spreading into the U.S. sparked a fear of becoming infected. The epidemic had become so bad the CDC had opened its Emergency Operations Center to handle the situation. Many schools in the United States offered free vaccinations once one was created.

People were terrified of communism spreading to the United States, so when accusations started floating around everyone would believe them. McCarthy accused people of communist behavior, although many were falsely accused, no one knew better than to think they were guilty because of how scared they were of communism spreading. This resembles how certain characters were accused of witchcraft in The Crucible. The Red Scare caused nationwide hysteria just how the Salem Witch Trials caused hysteria to the people of Salem.

However, during the time of McCarthyism, people suddenly believed if a person went against the government thoughts, they were a communist. Similarly, this is like a time in The Crucible when a mass amount of women were arrested for witchcraft. After Mary Warren comes home from watching the witchcraft trials, John Proctors asks if it is true if only fourteen women arrested. Instead Mary Warren replies, “No, sir. There be thirty-nine now” (Miller, Act II).

During the Salem witch trials of 1692 and the Red Scare, innocent people were being falsely accused. As in the crucible and the Red Scare, people were being accused of witches/communist with little or no evidence at all. McCarthy had targeted certain people and groups claiming that they are part of the communist party. Miller had used this example in the crucible telling that the innocent and respected people in the community were claimed to be witches by another person. Abby had claimed that Mrs. Proctor had stabbed her in the stomach with a poppet, which was made by Mary Warren.

The Salem Witch Trials were fueled by fear because no one wanted to be punished or killed. In Document B, Act 1 of The Crucible, Reverend Hale arrives to see who is behind all of the witchcraft. When he asks the girls to give him, the names of the people they saw with the Devil. “Abigail: I want to open myself. I want the light of God; I want the sweet love of Jesus!”

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.

The McCarthy hearings and the Salem witch trials accurately represent the saying, "Desperate times call for desperate measures. " In the 1950s, the McCarthy hearings tainted lives by falsely accusing those in the film industry of being associated with Communism. In the 17th century, the Salem witch trials charged innocent villagers of practicing witchcraft. Victims from the McCarthy hearings were isolated and ruined, while victims from the Salem trials were hanged and shunned.