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. This horrendous crime was a routine in the Red Scare crisis of the 1950s. Since this situation involves one's rights to be in threat, the man should speak out for his freedom. Many communists in America made the right decision to speak out for their freedom during the period of the McCarthy “witch” hunts. Speaking out for freedom and against injustice is also present in Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery, Arthur Miller's tragic play The Crucible, and Elia Kazan's fictional movie On the Waterfront. Ultimately, these texts illustrate that injustice, …show more content…
An example of people who spoke out for rights is Giles Corey and Martha Corey. Giles Corey fights for his wife, Martha Corey's, right to read books. In the climax of Act 2 of The Crucible, Giles argues: They take my wife. I never said my wife were a witch, Mr. Hale; I only said she were reading books… That bloody mongrel Walcott charge her. Y’see, he buy a pig of my wife four or five year ago… and claims that from that day to this he cannot keep a pig alive for more than four weeks because my Martha bewitch them with her books. (72) Corey emphasizes that Ezekiel Cheever and the court did wrong by arresting Martha Corey. Corey speaks out that he never saw his wife practicing witchcraft, but only reading books. Corey points out that his wife is not a witch and that Walcott has falsely accused Martha Corey of witchcraft. Because Cheever arrested Martha Corey for reading books, it is clear that her right of reading books is in threat and that she has faced injustice. In the 1950s, many Hollywood writers and directors became victims of the McCarthy “witch” hunts for their communist views, and they supported each other while they fought against injustice. Giles and Martha Corey spoke out in the right circumstance because their rights were under