Arthur Miller's 'The Man Who Had All The Luck'

Imagine living in the 1950s. Imagine being an American citizen who has been wrongly accused of Communism. Your life has just been ruined just like your reputation. You are not the only one though. Several American citizens experienced this. Playwright Arthur Miller saw this going on and wrote his famous award-winning play, “The Crucible”, analogizing the Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare. Arthur Miller was a famous American playwright who was born on October 17, 1915, in Harlem, New York. Miller wrote his first play, “No Villain”, while attending the University of Michigan. The play won the school’s Avery Hopwood Award. In 1944, he made his first Broadway debut, “The Man Who Had All the Luck”, which was unsuccessful. In just five years, Miller wrote his Pulitzer-prize winning play, “Death of a Salesman”. Shortly later, the writing of “The Crucible” began. Three years after publishing this play, the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) began to scrutinize Miller and called him to come before the committee. Miller refused to comply and was seen to be in contempt. In 1959, the ruling was overturned. Nevertheless, Miller continued writing after this and even wrote a TV show. In 2005, Miller died at the age of 89 (“Arthur”).

Miller was highly fascinated with the stories of the Salem Witches. While reading the accounts, he soon realized how the two time periods–one being the Red Scare and the other being the Trials—connected (Miller). This realization activated his imagination and allowed him to begin writing. Thus, the creation of “The Crucible” had begun. “The Crucible” is a play that takes place during the Salem Witch Trials, where a group of young girls begin accusing innocent men and women of witchcraft. These accusations ruined