Use Of Allegory Of The Red Scare In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

‘The Crucible’ is an allegory for the McCarthyism Red Scare era of the 1950s. An Allegory is a story that can be interpreted on both a literal and a symbolic level. Arthur Miller uses the Salem witch trials as a symbolic story of what happened to him. The allegory that was created between ‘The Crucible’ and The Red Scare is that people were being accused of something that was false.

In “The Crucible” hysteria spread by teenage girls in hopes of love in Salem during 1692 causes a drastic number of unfair trials that lacked people's rights, ways of proof, and solid evidence which affects the lives of many innocently accused people of the puritan community. Arthur Miller uses the theme of vengeance; mostly shows the use of ethos in the play to inform the reader of the ways people of the puritan society thought; uses logos to show the lack of logic and science within the community. Arthur Miller's “The Crucible” symbolizes the UNFAIR government in 1692 AND in 1920 during the communist era of THE RED SCARE. Mr. Miller asserts, “Inevitably, it was no sooner known that my new play was about Salem than I had to confront the charge

During the McCarthy Era, those who were summoned to court were questioned without having any evidence. According to the site, Red Scare, it states, “if you were convicted of being communist, your reputation was over” (theredscaremcarthyism.weebly.com). This quote is related to The Crucible because when one is convicted of using witchery; their name is put on the line; you will not been seen the same anymore. Proctor is very undaunted and “confesses” of witchery but the one thing he does not agree with is signing the paper that confesses what he claims he did. He does not want his name to be a remembered as a craven.

The Crucible’ is an allegory for the McCarthyism Red Scare era of the 1950’s. An allegory is a story, poem, or image that can be decoded to reveal a hidden meaning, usually moral or political one. Arthor Miller uses the Salem Witch Trials as a metaphor for his historical setting during the Red Scare. This account of “The Crucible” shows the author’s sense of being attacked for writing a story about witches and people who take accusations very seriously. The novel does an excellent job of demonstrating the absurdity of the charges, and the reader gained an understanding of how personal things became during the Red Scare.

The Crucible is an allegory to the Red Scare for many reasons, but one is that they are both run by lies spread by people to put themselves out of harm's way. The Crucible was written and used to express what was going on during this period with the Red Scare. “They were hounded by law enforcement… and fired them from their jobs” because of what they believed in their rule of terrorism, in The Crucible where people were hung because of their beliefs. Another example of The Crucible being an allegory to the Red Scare is how in The Crucible, Abigail Williams was over exaggerating her statement that she could see and talk to the devil. Just like how “McCarthy and Hoover… exaggerating that possibility” in the Red Scare.

Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" is an allegory that explores the events of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 as a reflection of the Red Scare that occurred in the 1950s. Miller created the allegory to criticize the hysteria and paranoia that characterized the Red Scare and to draw parallels to the Salem Witch Trials as an example of how fear and misinformation can lead to the persecution of innocent people. In the play, the accusations of witchcraft are used as a pretext for settling personal scores and political agendas, and the accused are forced to either confess to false crimes or face execution. The parallels to the Red Scare are clear, as many innocent people were accused of being communists and were forced to name names or risk losing

The immense fear and paranoia of witchcraft in Salem which led to the brutal hangings of 18 innocent people with 1 pressed to death. We can see how Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, an allegorical tale of the events of McCarthyism in the 1950s helped forward his message. Consequently, during the play, The Crucible, we witness many vivid examples of fear and persuasion used in Salem. Miller provides examples that relate to the scare of communism through real-life events of the witch trials. Nevertheless, he compares the role of fear and persuasion in Salem to the Red Scare with McCarthyism.

(Miller 76) John Proctor is saying that no matter what lies we use to cover ourselves and the truth, we will always be who we are, so there is no reason to hide the truth now, because eventually it will come back to you. He even later recognizes his own sin and lies, "I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man. My honesty is broke, Elizabeth; I am no good man."

Proctor proclaims, “‘Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang. How may I live without my name?

Accusing people of committing witchcraft to avoid jail and that was because they were scared, and they had fear. Another example is the fear of John Proctor who is forever under the judgment and doubt that Abigail will defame his name because of his affair with her. This means Abigail could ruin the life a normal good man because

This scene is an allegory to the Alien Registration Acts against the American Communist Party as it made it illegal for people to overthrow the government, similarly to what Proctor is trying to do for the innocence of the convicted.

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, a play using the Salem Witch Trials as an allegory for the Red Scare, villagers are engulfed by chaos and hysteria as a group of teenage girls, led by Abigail Williams, leads everyone to believe that witchcraft and the Devil are working within Salem. John Proctor, a Salem farmer, had an affair with Abigail, which summits to the witch trials and is caught in the middle of the conflict, eventually being accused of witchcraft among many others. After Mary Warren, his servant girl betrays him and pretends that he works for the Devil, Danforth, the judge asks Proctor if he will either confess to being a witch of if he will keep his “black allegiance” to the Devil. Proctor wildly responds, “I say—I say—God is dead!”

The Devil, a figure usually associated with fear, death, and sickness is placed within this play as an influential “character” based on his spiteful reputation. His name alone, when spoken, fills any room in Salem with terror and uncertainty. Especially in such a puritan society, such as Salem, the Devil is recognized as a malicious creature who is behind the “Witchcraft” and “sickness” taking place. As Mr. and Mrs. Putnam attempt to jump to conclusion that “there are hurtful, vengeful spirits layin hands on these children”(15), Mrs. Putnam justifies the

“Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar,” (12). Abigail views Elizabeth as an obstacle between her and John and in act 2 Abigail tries to murder Elizabeth. “He has lifted the poppet’s skirt and his eyes widen in astonished fear,” (74) Cheever is horrified by the discovery of a needle in the belly of Mary Warren’s poppet. The needle in the poppet represents murder and Mary admits that Abigail sat beside her as she made the poppet. Clearly trying to kill someone for personal gain can not be denied as satanic work, but while Abigail did fail, using Mary as her pawn is still evil in its own right.

The Crucible is a book that is set in a very eventful time in history. It is set during the famous witch trials and has many twists and turns in the storyline. Many people are being falsely accused of witchcraft and many were afraid. The higher social class you were the lower chance you would be accused, so you could assume common people and peasants/lower class citizens were afraid. The Crucible has many themes that present themselves prominently throughout the book such as reputation, self image, and paranoia.