Examples Of Mccarthyism In The Crucible

Charlotte Dunn Roger Arsht English 10 12 September 2017 Commonalities in The Crucible, McCarthy, Nixon & Trump: Will History Repeat? In the mid-20th century, Americans feared the infiltration of Communism. The Soviet Union had amassed great power and the threat of a nuclear confrontation was at the forefront of the American psyche. China, too, had become a powerful Communist threat.

The Crucible and McCarthyism The Crucible is as a 1950’s play which is an allegory that compares McCarthyism to the Salem witch trials. The drama written by Arthur Miller is based on the Salem witch trials and it captures the hysteria and the unjust judicial system at the time. McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations without the proper evidence and The Crucible based its drama off the historical documents of McCarthyism. “The 1950s Part One: McCarthy and the Red Scare” describes Joseph McCarthy and the Red Scare is greater detail.

When Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, it was during the era of McCarthyism in postwar America. Artists, creators, and people from all walks of life were being accused of conspiring with Soviet Russia and spreading Communism throughout the United States. These citizens often lost their jobs and had their lives destroyed because of the aggressive accusations coming from the US Government and those who thought its cause just. Similarly, during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, many innocent civilians were hanged because of their suspected connection to Satan. During both of these eras, people rightfully feared that even their closest friends and neighbors would turn them in due to pressure from authority.

In the 1950s, around the time that The Crucible was written, America was having a "communist witch hunt" which landed the name “The Red Scare”. The Red Scare was frightening for the people of America because they were afraid of communism and wanted to make sure that they kept their capitalist government. They believed that by identifying these people and dragging them out of positions in which they could use their communist influence in government/powerful situations (BBC Bitesize). Many of Arthur Miller's friends were questioned by the House Committee on Unamerican Activities for being considered to influence public opinion. Since these people were writers and members of the theater business, they were most likely considered to be outspoken and controversial at the time.

The Crucible parallels McCarthyism in three significant ways, false accusations, lack of evidence, and resistance. False accusations is the first similarity between the play and the trials. In document A Elia Kazan said "It is my obligation as a citizen to tell everything I know". In document B Tituba, a slave, has confessed that the devil came to her

In the late 1940s – early 1950s, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy made the grandiose pledge to uncover a communist plot to overthrow democracy in United States. No one was safe from persecutions, and the “witch hunts” for communism began. In response to the mass hysteria over this communist infiltration, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible. In the play, the people of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 sought to destroy the devil’s influence by seeking and destroying witches. This began the Salem Witchcraft Trials.

During McCarthyism there was a committee called (HUAC) House Un-American Activities Committee that was hunting for “infiltrators” card-carrying communist . They decided that if you were suggested of being a communist you would have to face trial. This committee had the power to blacklist you and destroy your career. “...three hundred and twenty artists were blacklisted, and for many of them this meant the end of exceptional and promising careers.

The times back then were terrible. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953 about The Salem Witch Trials of 1692.McCarthyism was the “witch hunt” for the communist in 1953.the parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism are naming names,lack of proof ,and reststance. The first reason they are parallel is because of naming names. Hollywood director Elia Kazan went in front of the HUAC twice. The first time he did not confess and names.

The Crucible, is a story of mayhem, deceits, and riot. It is a classic example of how lust and vengeance affects the reality in which we find ourselves in. In The Crucible, the desire for revenge and the resulting spreading panic led to many innocent deaths. It is written to mirror a world where the fear of communism is so widespread - that citizens are arrested on no-solid grounds, and the disruption of daily life and death are prevalent. In short it is a clear example of McCarthyism – or making accusations without the proper regard for evidence.

In the play, the Crucible by Arthur Miller takes an inner look at the HUAC act, where they put people on tedious trials because they allegedly had ties to communism or they practiced communism. It explores all of the lying and accusing people were doing to each other. In the play, they use the Salem witch trials as an example. The play uses the accusations of witchery and the tedious trials and hangings of people for these accusations. The author clearly uses irony, characterization, and understatement to point out the wrongdoings during this time.

Throughout the course of American history there has been many two persecutions that have been very similar to one other, but they were separated by almost 3 centuries. One of these events was the “witch hunts”, Salem Witch Trials, and the other was McCarthyism. Because of these controversial topics, Arthur Miller wrote his play called The Crucible, in which he uses the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 to exhibit the dangerous McCarthyism, the bystander effect, and mass hysteria. Another intention of writing was the hope that society would learn and grow from the past, instead of ignoring and repeating it again.

Although, many people that were condemned weren’t actually apart of the Communist Party, (under McCarthyism around 1950-1954) they got blacklisted or lost their jobs. This social injustice is also portrayed in The Crucible as its characters face the Salem Witch Trials. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as his own reaction to the injustice of McCarthyism. Miller’s purpose was to show how people accused each other with false denunciations because of their fear, jealousy and solely hatred of one another under McCarthyism.

Period4 The Crucible Essay Communism and Witchcraft have the same effect on humans, that effect is fear, when you hear fear you think of your worst nightmare or someone hiding in your closet, during the McCarthyism era and the salem witchcraft people had fear about whether their life is on the line or not. It all depended on one person in their community whether or not they choose to save their life. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red Scare in the McCarthy era because the girls feared Abigail just like everyone feared J.McCarthy, Elizabeth being accused is similar to McCarthy accusing the US Army, they are innocent just like Elizabeth.

In the play, The Crucible, Salem, Massachusetts, along with the United States during McCarthyism, is engulfed with paranoia. Although both situations include different causes, their effects are strikingly similar. For instance, throughout The Crucible, Abigail Williams is being shown repeatedly accusing innocent people of witchcraft. Her actions begin sending the small town into a panic as they throw people into jail and hang them in an effort to try and cleanse the town from any aspect of evil. Similarly, throughout 1950-1954, Joseph McCarthy falsely accused people within the United States Government of being a member of the Communist party.

Arthur Miller constructs his play upon the famous Salem witch trails. Miller's Crucible was written in the early 1950s. Miller wrote his drama during the brief reign of the American senator Joseph McCarthy whose bitter criticized anti- communism sparkled the need for the United States to be a dramatic anti- communist society during the early tense years of the cold war. By orders from McCarthy himself, committees of the Congress commenced highly controversial investigations against communists in the U.S similar to the alleged Salem witches situation. Convict communists were ordered to confess their crime and name others to avoid the retribution.