Einstein failing math, Washington’s wooden teeth, and Humpty Dumpty being an egg are all common misconstrued truths in American history and culture. Assumptions are a regular cause of misunderstandings and confrontation. Many people in society tend to believe the first thing they hear without any questions or back story. The Crucible illustrates the social issue of people who fail to think for themselves. During the 1950s and in The Crucible, hundreds of people were accused of crimes with little to no evidence. In the 1950s the rumor of communism in America began to spread like wild fire. In 1950 many authors, actors and government officials were accused of communism. Val Lorwin, a State Department employee was an alleged communist. He …show more content…
In the 1950s the rumor of communism in the U.S. spread so quickly and people everywhere were developing unfounded fears. Mass hysteria took over the U.S. with worrying of communism. In the 1950s children were paid to spy on their teachers and teachers were paid to spy on their students. This show how far the paranoia went. If people in society would have taken the time to rationalize and figure out another way to handle these insane situations, less damage could have been done. Similar to the mass hysteria in the 50’s the characters in The Crucible were quickly getting the word of witchcraft spread through Salem. Because the people in these positions failed to use any common sense, people were getting blamed and getting into a situation that they never had anything to do with it. In both situations, people saw there only way to get out of trouble was to give up other people's names. In these times no one was safe. One would give up any name to get out of trouble, whether it was an enemy or a best friend. In The Crucible, Tituba was being blamed for witchcraft and as soon as she got the opportunity to place the blame on somebody else, she took it. While Tituba is being interrogated Mr. Putnam is drilling her with confusing questions. Tituba begins to get nervous and starts to spit out lies and accusations to save herself. While weeping and in fury she declares "Sarah Good!...Aye sir and Goody Osborn."(Miller 47). Mrs.
Tituba admits to doing witchcraft but has to blame other people. Soon enough people start blaming other people for personal reasons. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller abby is the biggest hypocrite. Abby claims to be a good puritan however she lies a lot.
The Crucible contains a plethora of flawed and victimised characters who all contribute to the seemingly endless drama held within the town of Salem. In the beginning of the story, there are some characters who are comfortable with their town before things take a turn for the worst. However, when one has been enslaved to follow the orders of an irrational owner, one should know that they would be the exception. This just so happens to be Tituba.
In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller utilizes the motif of mass hysteria. In the play townspeople panic about the accusation of people they know of being witches. In today's world we are surrounded by technology which allows news to travel fast. Recently, when a deadly disease called Ebola was found people began to panic and they were scared of being infected. The accusation of witches in the town and the Ebola found caused the same reaction in people.
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible during a time of mass hysteria in the 1950's. During the 50's, a great fear of communism was very real within the United States. He connects this time with another period of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials, by using ideas such as: fear is always based around a grain of truth, groups begin to form in search of the accused, and the best option for survival is to confess and accuse someone else. During the witch trials, it was a near fact in society that witches walked among us.
And how did it happen?” By Ellen Schrecker and “Hunting the communist” Joseph McCarthy did the same thing by giving a list of “alleged communist” so he can get some fame. The lack of evidence it the final thing we’re going to compare. In Arthur Miller’s book “the crucible” (page 76) the amount of evidence Danforth used to accuse Mary Warren of being a witch was very little.
The Crucible Essay The theme of hysteria is evident throughout Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and in everyday life and society. Driven by self-preservation, hysteria influences many characters’ actions and leads to the devastating witch trials in Salem. For instance, many characters in The Crucible are driven to execute drastic actions to sustain their reputation and protect themselves.
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.
Arthur Miller's The Crucible presents the mass hysteria known as the Salem Witch Trials, which can be related to the events following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a once faultless naval base in the United States. Just as in The Crucible Abigail caused the unjust imprisonment of nearly all of the members of the Salem community, Franklin D. Roosevelt also caused a mass hysteria when he used fear to encourage the United States to action following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. This marked the beginning of Japanese internment where all Japanese people, including Japanese-Americans, were taken from their homes and relocated to isolated internment camps. Abigail's accusations on the people of Salem and Pres. Roosevelt's
Now back in the 50s, communism was an event that if you were just simply accused of being a communist no one would
How would you react to hysteria? Would you join or stay far away from it? In the 1960s people were accused of being communists. Arthur Miller publicly stated he was a communist. He was inspired by what had happened in the 1960s and personal experiences.
The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. The Crucible is a story based off of a lot of main characters and scenes. The story itself is based off the salem witch trials hence the story is in the town of salem. The three categories of this story was mass hysteria where people believe things and all join in. Group think is how people together make decisions based on ideas in the group.
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.