Examples Of Allegory In The Crucible

Ryan Whitlock Mrs. Chelsea Russell-ice AP English Literature 26 March 2024 The Crucible: A Stark Warning of the Dangers of Blind Conformity and Human Selfishness The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953, serves as a testament to the harmful nature of human selfishness and fearful congruity. The play is set in protestant Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 during the perilous Salem Witch Trials in which more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 19 were executed by hanging. Mass hysteria and sorrow were caused by the accusations of people by others to save themselves and many were forced to oblige or meet their demise through hanging. Through the setting of the Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible displays an eerie allegory to the

These accusations relate to the reason Miller wrote The Crucible, as an allegory for McCarthyism. Case in point, “Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, when the United States government persecuted people accused of being communists.” (“The Crucible” by Arthur Miller | Whittier College). Accordingly, this opening to the play is historically similar to McCarthyism. For example, when Abigail and the girls shift the suspicion of witchcraft from themselves to others, it is the same as when Joseph McCarthy claimed to have a list of communist spies to bolster his political power and create the fear that lots of U.S. citizens were undercover communists. Both events created mass hysteria and fear, causing people to turn on each other and look out for themselves only. This is evident in The Crucible when people accused of witchcraft “reveal” other witches and admit to witchcraft to save themselves from hanging. As an illustration, “MARY”: He sentenced her. He must-but not Sarah Good. For Sarah Good confessed, y’see. PROCTOR: I am Confessed! To what if a snare? MARY: That she sometimes made a compact with Lucifer, and wrote her name in his black book—with her blood—and bound herself to torment Christians till God’s thrown