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Comparing Power In The Crucible And Red Scare

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The Salem Witch Trials and the 1950’s Red Scare are easily relatable considering that the two events killed several innocent lives, when that individual did nothing wrong. The community around has always been a place where secrets and grudges are held against someone. During the Salem Witch Trials, according to Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” and the Red Scare, it focused on how much power a character could have, and that one character also can lead to convincing the community to be with them or against their personal thoughts.
Furthermore, the power that is lead to one's head could destroy the thoughts of other about yourself as an individual. During the Salem Witch Trials the power is shown by the government standing up for the one’s that blame …show more content…

In the midst of The Salem Witch Trials, the people around would either try and help the court find people that performed witchcraft, if not others assumed you were a witch. “You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between.” (Danforth Act III, The Crucible) The quote ties into the text because if somebody is not with the court, they will be thought of as doing witchcraft. The Red Scare explains how if you were not a capitalist of America then, you would be thought of a communist, and you were blacklisted. If you were blacklisted your life was ruined because you couldn’t get a job or have any friends. “Blacklisting means putting people on a list of suspected communists. It meant their professional reputation was destroyed, and that no one would hire them for fear of being thought of a communist.” (Paragraph 6, The Red Scare: McCarthyism) People feared being blacklisted because everybody would hate them and it just ruined their lives, just like how in the Salem Witch Trials if you weren't with the court you would be thought of as a witch and the people would hate

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Franklin D. Roosevelt once stated “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” this is extremely apparent in the play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller that depicts the events that took place during the salem witch trials. These events in American history had countless similarities that led to the persecution of many innocent individuals. Arthur Miller effectively demonstrates this concept in his play The Crucible by drawing parallels between the witch trials of the 1690’s and the “The Great Fear” of the 1950’s. The Salem Witch Trials and the “The Great Fear” were both the product of fear, hysteria, and false accusations.

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767 Words | 4 Pages

Fear, it causes people to be blinded by the truth. People can’t tell right from wrong. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to show how no one could see what was right. During the 1950’s communism was spreading throughout Europe like a wildfire, then it slowly made its way over to the U.S. This was known as The Red Scare.

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Cameron Oldfield Mrs. Brincks English III 15 November, 2015 The Crucible and Red Scare Imagine being thrown in jail, blamed for something that you didn't do .The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a story about how certain propaganda and false accusations can ruin lives, just like in the case of the Red Scare. Although 1692 the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare were over 200 years apart, The similarities are striking. both trials used intimidation, fear, hatred, and false accusations to ruin innocent lives. Both trials resulted in terrible outcomes, with both ending with innocent people being put to death and shunned from society.

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1035 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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582 Words | 3 Pages

When people don’t want to get in trouble for something they normally blame it on someone else. Now most of the time it doesn't end out that bad, or they find out the person was not telling the truth, but that is not the same for the people of Salem. The main cause of the Salem Witch Trials is Abigail Williams, in Arthur Miller’s Crucible, because of her calling people witches, 20 people got killed there was a lot of fear and no trust for anyone. It’s the fear and people not trusting others that made the witch trials bad, and she seemed to create this hysteria because she feared getting in trouble, she wanted to get revenge, and because once she started she couldn’t stop without getting very punished.

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608 Words | 3 Pages

The Salem Witch Trials were fueled by fear because no one wanted to be punished or killed. In Document B, Act 1 of The Crucible, Reverend Hale arrives to see who is behind all of the witchcraft. When he asks the girls to give him, the names of the people they saw with the Devil. “Abigail: I want to open myself. I want the light of God; I want the sweet love of Jesus!”

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906 Words | 4 Pages

When people are placed under an intense feeling of fear, they begin to commit actions they never thought they were capable over. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a young group of girls commit witchcraft which eventually leads to the arrest of over 100 women. This is similar to a time in the 1950s when Joseph McCarthy accuses government officials of communism and that ultimately leads to hundreds of citizens losing their jobs. The Crucible reveals the similarities between The Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s and McCarthyism of the 1950s because it demonstrates how a society can be tremendously impacted by the feeling the fear.

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372 Words | 2 Pages

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, we’re introduced to the Small town of Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. The town is governed by a Theocracy which means god is the almighty ruler. After Betty, last living daughter of Reverend Parris, falls “ill” and panic breaks out as the Girls of Salem are to soon be accused of witchcraft. Once Tituba and Abigail “confess” that people in the town are witches the stage has now been set. Throughout The Crucible three categories of people show their lust for power over the theocracy that rules over Salem.

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345 Words | 2 Pages

In the overture of The Crucible, Arthur Miller characterizes the Puritans as hardworking, yet emphasizes their many negative traits to analyze the type of environment necessary to produce mass hysteria. While no one truly knew what the lives of the Puritans were like, the Puritans were feared greatly because their society was seen as "a barbaric frontier inhabited by a sect of fanatics..." Everyone viewed the Puritans as fanatics because they often minded other people 's business. This, consequently, created suspicion, eventually leading to the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials took place during a period of utter fear and chaos, where many were afraid that individuality was on the rise.

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661 Words | 3 Pages

Introduction: In his play “The Crucible,” Arthur Miller took pains to show that the innocent could be accused and convicted of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The victims’ crime – what? They were different and politically weak, which made them easy targets for a witch-hunting society. This scapegoating mentality is still apparent today, with various groups being persecuted unfairly because they are not like us.

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630 Words | 3 Pages

Shawn Jande Ms. Clancy American Literature B3 15 November 2015 The Crucible Analytical Essay Imagine, being accused of a crime you didn’t commit by your neighbors and friends out of jealousy, and desire. This is what many people in the town of Salem had to go through during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. People's motives such as: gaining and maintaining power, and aspirations for what other people had caused them to make irrational, and atrocious decisions. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, desire and power drive characters to create chaos in the community.

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907 Words | 4 Pages

Scapegoating: Taking Heat From Someone Else's Flame In an interview on Faith and Religion with Bill Moyers from PBS, Margaret Atwood once said, “Under stress, society will always scapegoat a person or a group of people.” This belief is shown in the texts The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the cartoon “It’s okay -- We’re hunting Communist” by Herb Block, and her own poem “Half Hanged Mary”.

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1422 Words | 6 Pages

However, The Crucible takes place in Salem where they use this religion to force control on the society. Those who are holy are with the government and those who are unholy are against the government. The governing bodies of Salem took the free will away from the community. They must be holy or else they will pay for their sin. Abuse of power is shown when Danforth states there are only people who are for the court or against the

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886 Words | 4 Pages

Period4 The Crucible Essay Communism and Witchcraft have the same effect on humans, that effect is fear, when you hear fear you think of your worst nightmare or someone hiding in your closet, during the McCarthyism era and the salem witchcraft people had fear about whether their life is on the line or not. It all depended on one person in their community whether or not they choose to save their life. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red Scare in the McCarthy era because the girls feared Abigail just like everyone feared J.McCarthy, Elizabeth being accused is similar to McCarthy accusing the US Army, they are innocent just like Elizabeth.

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930 Words | 4 Pages

Time and Time Again Power Corrupts “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This quote by politician Lord Acton has a lot to do with The Crucibles. The Crucibles, a play written by Arthur Miller takes place during the Salem witch trials. In this play a lot more was happening than just the hanging of witches. There was also corruption of power and authority in the court, specifically by a judge named Danforth.

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