During the 1940’s and 1950’s, communism was a popular political movement in the United States. The House Un-American Activities Committee was created to investigate those suspected of having communist ties. Miller refused to name any names so he was given jail time. Kazan decided that his career was the most important thing, so he ratted out 17 CPers. Kazan was said to have ruined their careers and lives.
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 response to the second Red Scare, prompted by the accusations of Senator Joe McCarthy, Arthur Miller felt it necessary to express his political feelings through an author’s medium. Similarities are shown between McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials in the way Senator McCarthy gained power and control by inducing fear and hatred of communists in America, comparable to the fear and hatred of witches in the late 1600s. Miller shares that themes of paranoia and vengeance continue on even as society progresses, and presents The Crucible as an example to shed light on issues inherent with using accusations to gain power. With its ability to relate to a number of political situations in many countries, even as far as 50 years past its creation,
During this time in the world people were scared of the red scarce. People would say that Joseph Mccarthy was the modern
Imagine the wicked House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) arrest an innocent man. The HUAC does not arrest the man because he has committed a murder, but because he is a communist. Many communists became victims of HUAC in the Red Scare crisis of the 1950s. These communists made the right decision to speak out for their freedom and against injustice. These communists also spoke out for their freedom of different beliefs.
During this time period, not long after the end of World War II, the USSR (Soviet Union) was on the rise, which led to the Cold War. The Cold War led to increased tension between the United States, and the Soviet Union due to competition and heavy conflict of interest. The involvement of the Soviet Union led to the dramatic fear of communism among the public after witnessing the horrific environment within the USSR. This helped develop McCarthyism, the idea of investigating, and accusing someone in power of being associated with communism. Joe McCarthy himself, the founder of his very ideal also gained much popularity within this time period due to many Americans fearing the rise of communist leaders and communism itself.
In the Miller Transcript, Arthur Miller is convicted for his suspected association with communist organizations during the 1950s anti communist hunt led by Joseph McCarthy. Arthur Miller’s conviction was not based on any evidence linking him to communism other than attending a meeting with a group of suspected communist Hollywood writers whom Arthur Miller refused to identify. His trial is a great example of the unjust trials and convictions of innocent people under the suspicions of being communists during the McCarthy period.
The Soviet Union and the U.S had contrasting views on the ideas of capitalism and communism, in a bid for world domination the Cold War broke out. A “red scare” swept the nation, with a fear of possible nuclear conflict Americans were paranoid that their own families were communist, spies for the Soviet government. Initiated by Senator Joseph McCarthy, McCarthyism, preached for anti-communism and the suppression of the Anti-communist party. Supporters of communism (reds) were ostracised akin to the patients in the ward being ostracised from society, ‘the outside world’ cementing their chances of ever assimilating into modern society. Government bodies and followers of McCarthyism suppressed freedom of speech and persecuted the “Reds”, in the same manner, that Nurse Ratched controlled the speech and actions within the confines of the ward, controlling her patients every word and move through her “cogs and wires”, anyone who dared to cause an uproar was either humiliated in ‘democratic’ group therapy sessions, given ‘electroshock therapy’ or
When Miller writes the novel, he is not just writing about the Salem Witch Trials. Miller is writing about McCarthyism and communists, too. McCarthyism is like the Salem Witch Trials in the aspect that it is corrupt and people start accusing innocent people. In McCarthyism, McCarthy decides that people are communists if they show signs of being “UnAmerican.” Then, he encourages people to report anyone that they suspect are communists.
Arthur Miller in “Are You Now Or Were You Ever” in relations to “The Crucible” explains the problems that society has with the idea of Communism; Communism is the belief that all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. During this time there was the issue with Mccarthy and his anti-communism ideologies. Miller gives the argument on how this has affected not only himself but the people around him and society which had led to a sense of paranoia. To give the argument in which society has become paranoid and separate, he uses the Rhetorical strategies such as the usage of analogy, Rhetorical questions, and imagery. To begin with, In order to give the idea of how society has become paranoid and unaware of their problems Miller uses analogy.
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.
Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is one of these social commentaries. Many critics and even Miller himself has stated his play was an allegory for the McCarthy’s red hunt. He feared the red scare, and such writing a play directly on the subject would’ve been dangerous. Miller wrote an article on why he wrote The Crucible, and he references the thought process in which people were undergoing.
The Cold War is often seen as a dark time in American history, not just because of the international conflict, but because of the strife it caused within the United States itself. During the Cold War, the general culture in America was fearful and paranoid about the rise and spread of Communism within their society. One example of how this hysteria manifested is illustrated in the movie, Trumbo, which tells the story of when the Hollywood industry blacklisted famous writer Dalton Trumbo, along with other workers in the industry, who were connected to Communism. Dalton Trumbo and his associates faced bigotry and were effectively attacked for standing by their ideals, which was a reflection of how American culture had changed at that time. By
The book lays out details of how regular Americans to politicians and celebrities were being accused of being communists, having connections to communists or advocating freely to be communist. The book also shows the effect of Joseph McCarthy to the public during the McCarthy era, as he was the direct cause of publicizing ordinary to well-known Americans to communist ties, as the effects of publicizing brought what is known as the “Red Scare” in the United States and Americans feared communism. I choose to read Nightmare In Red for
To what extent did the Red Scare influence American society during the early stage of the cold war? The United States and the Soviet Union had entered the state of the rivalry after the end of World War II; this marked the beginning of the Cold War. When the conflict between the two countries intensified in the late 40s and early 50s, fear and hysteria toward communism rose and became the dominant mindset in the United States. This is the time which was later known as the Second Red Scare.
