Compare And Contrast Salem Witch Trials And The Crucible

What a Horrible World In today 's day and age we have more technological, medicinal, societal, and worldly advancements than we did in either 1692 or 1947, but we are still just as easily corrupted by jealousy, power, and paranoia. The years 1692 and 1947 are perfect examples of prospering societies that became undermined through very similar processes. In 1629 the Salem Witch Trials and in 1947 the McCarthy Communist Trials- were both held unjustly, involving condemnation based on unfair trial practices. People desperately admitted to being a witch (1692) or to being a communist (1947) only because they didn’t want to die. Even if you were found innocent your life was virtually over because your career and livelihood had been destroyed

A play, The Crucible, was written about these trials as an attack on McCarthyism. In the Crucible, the entire conflict of the trials began with an affair between a married man, John Proctor, and a maid, Abigail Adams. Sparknotes confirms this in their summary saying, “Unbeknownst to anyone else in the town, while working in Proctor’s home the previous year she engaged in an affair with him, which led to her being fired by his wife, Elizabeth. Abigail still desired Proctor, but he fended her off...” (The Crucible - Plot Overview). Abi became angry and jealous, these emotions turned her already evil nature into one of such hate she tried to “witch” Elizabeth and basically kill her with magic. Abi did this with a group of the town 's girls and they all danced naked, cooked a pot with living creatures inside, and had the black slave Tituba give them some chicken’s blood to drink, in the woods. When the Pastor confronted Abi and blatantly asked her if she had practiced witchcraft and insinuated the affair she denied both saying “Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it - and I 'll be whipped if I must be. But theyre speaking of witch-craft,” and “My name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is soiled! Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar,” (Miller

McCarthy manipulated the media, told outrageous stories about the communist conspiracy in the United States, and used his power and America’s fear to besmirch any opponents as “communist sympathizers” to make sure he remained at the top. Actually, most conservative members of Congress supported McCarthy because it helped them gain votes during elections. The majority of McCarthy 's movement attacked liberals and members of the Democratic Party and this aided anyone who was not part of those topics and organizations. Then McCarthy began to target the Army because they wouldn’t favor David Schine, one of his former investigators, who had been drafted in. “Senator Joseph McCarthy began hearings investigating the United States Army, which he charged with being ‘soft’ on communism. These televised hearings gave the American public their first view of McCarthy in action, and his recklessness, indignant bluster, and bullying tactics quickly resulted in his fall from prominence,” (McCarthy Army Hearings). These hearings showed Americans how McCarthy really was in court, and he disgusted them.
McCarthy even targeted President Truman himself at one point, when Truman made the decision to remove General Douglas MacArthur from power during the Korean War. Unlike the Salem Witch Trials, there were other judges with the same if not more power as him and when they saw through the facade of the trials to the his real motives, which were jealousy, arrogance, and selfishness, they