Occasion’s Effect
The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism are very similar even though they took place such a long time from each other. If someone was accused of witchcraft in 1692 they had to confess and lose all social standing or be executed, in the 1950’s if a person was accused of being a communist they would be fired and put on trial, if they would not confess they were blacklisted until they admitted to their “crime”. Arthur Miller used the Salem Witch trials to protest McCarthyism in a somewhat discreet way that proved to be a timeless comfort to the citizens experiencing oppression from their government (“Why I Wrote The Crucible”, 911). As the 1950’s continued, and the McCarthy trials along with it, Miller noticed that the trials had the same overall process of the Salem Trials so he began writing “The Crucible” hoping that his play would help people realize that McCarthyism may not be as justified as it seems (Miller Interview part 1.1). In a discussion between McCarthy and Joseph Welch-a special council for the army-about Fred Fisher-a lawyer and suspected communist who had been recommended by Welch to join McCarthy’s Committee-the topic of a “needlessly inflicted” scar on Fisher caused by McCarthy could make a person wonder how many more scars were given in this publicity stunt (“McCarthy-Welch
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Even with the play’s puritan disguise Miller was still sent on trial for suspicion of communism. If “The Crucible” had been written at another time it probably would not have gained much interest and there would not have been something to bring people to the realization that McCarthy’s accusations and methods were really somewhat uncalled for. Both the Salem Trials and McCarthyism were cause by the spread of something that created fear and paranoia and allowed chaos and revenge to take
In 1957, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible during the McCarthyism era to show how much fear and hysteria can and has already impacted America. The Crucible exaggerates the Salem witch trials of 1962-1963 which are similar to the McCarthyism era. The parallels between the Salem Witch trials and McCarthyism include blaming others, unreliable sources, and punishment if someone refuses to testify. The first parallels between the Salem Witch trials and McCarthyism are blaming others to save
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.
Soon after the release of his play critics began to notice the allegorical nature of the play. It was released in a time when the paranoia and hysteria was very relevant. It was dealt with by people regularly. Miller comments though that the reality of the situation was that The Red Scare was almost a more serious event in his mind. “Inevitably, it was no sooner known that my new play was about Salem than I had to confront the charge that such an analogy was specious -- that there never were any witches but there certainly are Communists.(Miller, Why I wrote The Crucible)” Miller was guilty of egocentrism.
The Salem witch trials proved to be one of the most cruel and fear driven events to ever occur in history. Many innocent people were accused of witchcraft, and while some got out of the situation alive not everyone was as lucky. Arthur Miller the author of The Crucible conveys this horrific event in his book and demonstrates what fear can lead people to do. But the reason as to why Arthur Miller felt the need to write The Crucible in the first place was because the unfortunate reality that history seemed to have repeated itself again. In the article “Are You Now or Were You Ever”, Arthur Miller claims that the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trials were similar and he does this through his choice of diction, figurative language, and rhetorical questions.
Mass hysteria was present in both The Crucible and McCarthyism. Mass hysteria is when people went crazy because people were accused of being communists and or witches. Mass hysteria was however started by specific people in both scenarios. In Mccarthyism Joseph Mccarthy a United States Senator and in The Crucible Abigail Williams who was accused of having an affair with John Proctor her employer were the specific ones who accused people of being communists and witches. Even though the Salem witch trials happened in the late 1690s and McCarthyism in the 1950s they paralleled each other.
During the time that Arthur Miller created the Crucible, America was dealing with a very similar problem compared to the Salem witch trails. This problem was called McCarthyism, it was believed that a few hundred communists had entered the country, and they posed a threat to American safety. The accusations of communists in the country caused mass paranoia among the entire United States. Arthur Miller was one of them accused of being a communist and was trialed for it, which most likely lead to the creation of his play the Crucible. After the end of both events - the Salem witch hunt and McCarthyism - the effects afterward left devastating results and lingered for many more years to come.
In history there have been many major events that have shaped the times we live in. Two of the major events of our time are the "witchunts" of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. The Crucible is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a drama and fictional story of the Salem Witch Trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692-1693. Miller wrote the play as a parable for McCarthyism, when the United States government ostracized people for being communists.
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.
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.
“The Crucible” was written by Arthur Miller in the 1950’s to show McCarthyism with the use of the Salem Witch Trials as an allegory. Miller used an allegory of the Witch Trials to show another meaning to McCarthyism’s impact. McCarthyism was during the 1950’s that started with Joseph McCarthy that spreads the ideas of mass hysteria and fear of communism. Cite: McCarthyism, witch trials, communism and Joseph McCarthy)
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a historic play but more importantly is a social and psychological drama that takes place in a small puritan town in Salem Massachusetts. Many different themes find their way through this play but the most important theme is the danger of Hysteria, reputation, and Intolerance can destroy a town no matter the strength of the people in the town. As this play was written during the red scare during the cold war this play shows many aspects as McCarthyism which had similar event that the Salem witch trials had but with the red scare. Hysteria was a major factor in the many accusations of witchcraft that occurred throu out the play “The crucible”, the first example is when the young girls of the community of Salem,
Reasons Behind The Crucible Arthur Miller’s main purpose in writing The Crucible was to show the similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Trials and to warn against government propaganda. At the time that The Crucible was published, America had a huge fear of communism. Anyone accused of having ties with the communist party was shunned. It much resembled the Salem Witch Trials in how the government, or leader of the time, used fear against the people to gain power. For example, Joseph McCarthy can be compared to Reverend Parris in how they both lead the people into the belief that there were intruders in their mists that had plans to sabotage the community.
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.
In Arthur Miller 's play The Crucible, false accusations and fear are used to imprison and kill many people accused of being witches. In this way, The Crucible stands as an allegory for McCarthy 's communist hunt, during which many people were also killed and imprisoned due to accusations of communism. By comparing McCarthyism to the Salem Witch Trials, Miller is able to communicate that people should not conform to societal trends because these trends may be misleading and cause innocent people to get hurt. Many characters in The Crucible serve as allegories to McCarthy 's communist hunt, specifically Abigail Williams, Giles Corey, and Betty Parris.
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.