How Does Arthur Miller Use Witch Hunts In The Crucible

In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, witch hunts empowered towns and consumed people’s lives with fear. Society was undeniably affected by witch hunts, as people did everything in their power to either free themselves from blame or accuse someone else. People thought without a trace of logic, accusing and punishing innocent, “witches,” left and right. At first, this lead society to a poor place of illogical reasoning and punishments, but overall gave a lasting lesson of how to deal with conflicts in the future. Arthur Miller used his play to depict the irony and insane lack of knowledge that was embedded in the witch hunts to allow our society to use them as an example to learn from. The witch hunts were brought on by the suppression of

Girls had specific roles in society and were expected to follow the rules of the church without question, so when they acted out and danced or strayed from the church, chaos was unavoidable. Puritan American’s viewed physical wants and desires as a threat to society and work of the Devil. As questions of witchcraft arose, townspeople became frightened and began accusing any girl who frayed ever so slightly away from religious teachings. Some behaviors, no matter how small or insignificant, still convinced others that the presence of witchcraft was undeniable. In act one, Parris, Putnam, and Ms. Putnam concluded that her babies were murdered due to Tituba’s witchcraft. “They were murdered, Mr. Parris! And mark this proof! Last night my Ruth were ever so close to their little spirits; I know it, sir. For how else is she struck dumb now,” (Miller 16) pushed Parris to believe that Ms. Putnam’s seven stillborn babies were caused from witchcraft. Accusations without concrete

When witchcraft arose, the state began executing anyone affiliated with witchery. Miller wrote The Crucible in the 1950s when Communism was on the rise during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Americans composed investigations to draw out Communist sympathizers that lived amongst them, and similarly, authorities in The Crucible performed acts that were intended to reveal a witch. Behavior like missing church, reading books other than the bible, and inability to remember specific bible quotes were clear signs that one is a witch. This caused an uproar of citizens accusing others in attempt to remove the blame from themselves, and evoked chaos in society. People reacted in horror when they heard of Tituba dancing with other girls in Salem’s sacred forest, “the Salem folk believed that the virgin forest was the Devil’s last preserve, his home base and the citadel of his final stand,” (Miller 5). The girls, Abigail and Tituba were disturbing the order of Salem, just as Communism was evoking mass fear in Americans. In the 1950s, Joseph McCarthy began the movement known as, “McCarthyism,” in which Americans were punished and accused of treason for Communism. This method was centered around the practice of making accusations of treason or subversion without proper regards for evidence. McCarthy manipulated American’s deep fear of Communism and prospered as he ruined people’s lives by