Comparing Settings And The 50s In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Behavior and choices are often affected by the society we live in, these are commonly reflected through literary works. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play that follows the lives of the characters who play citizens of the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. This play is set in 1692, and written close to 300 years later, in 1952. To someone with no knowledge of the political climate in the 1950s, writing The Crucible during that time may seem arbitrary. However, both settings - the late 1600s and the 50s - influenced very similar actions within the play, and in real life. The Crucible explores many topics, such as the amount of impact faith has on the lives of people in certain settings. This

In the 1950s, around the time that The Crucible was written, America was having a "communist witch hunt" which landed the name “The Red Scare”. The Red Scare was frightening for the people of America because they were afraid of communism and wanted to make sure that they kept their capitalist government. They believed that by identifying these people and dragging them out of positions in which they could use their communist influence in government/powerful situations (BBC Bitesize). Many of Arthur Miller's friends were questioned by the House Committee on Unamerican Activities for being considered to influence public opinion. Since these people were writers and members of the theater business, they were most likely considered to be outspoken and controversial at the time. In 1956, Arthur Miller was questioned by this committee as well, which was three years after the release of The Crucible (BBC Bitesize). A Republican Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy made himself well known by stating that communists had permeated into the U.S. State Department (Storrs). Because of this political climate, the term “McCarthyism” was born, meaning “the tactic of undermining political opponents by making unsubstantiated attacks on their loyalty to the United States” (Storrs). McCarthyism seems almost analogous to the method of persecution used by the characters in The Crucible, but instead of proving their patriotism for their own country, the people of Salem had to prove their faith. As mentioned before, stating one’s knowledge or love of faith was used as a valid practice of proving innocence during The Salem Witch Trials. Even church attendance was taken into account as a valid reason to persecute someone. “I note that you are rarely in the church on Sabbath Day… Twenty-six time in seventeen