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Examples Of Allegory In The Crucible

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Have you ever been accused of something you did not do? Unfortunately, this circumstance happened during the second Red Scare of the 1940s-1950s. Joseph McCarthy is the leader of this movement and the founder of McCarthyism. McCarthyism, the act of accusing high government officials of being a part of the Communist Party. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller dramatizes the Salem witch trials through allegory with fearful and miserable tones to illustrate to his audience that hysteria can change one’s actions towards others around them, further explaining the political allegory he creates to show McCarthyism. McCarthyism and The Crucible share the lack of evidence that their main instigators have against those charged with McCarthyism or witchcraft. …show more content…

McCarthy announces at a meeting in Wheeling, West Virginia that he has a list of 205 card-carrying Communist in the U.S state department and restates the list in Salt Lake City(McCarthyism). Joseph McCarthy’s list makes the American public paranoid about the spread of communism among them. All the innocent people on McCarthy’s list are defenseless because he has gained too much power over the people. As McCarthy’s list was on paper, Abigail Williams and her followers have a list based on their memory of the night in the woods with Tituba. The list starts when Abigail wants to be forgiven for dealing with witchcraft, so she announces that “[She] saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” and the other girls start accusations to be forgiven too(Miller 1). The girl's accusations put the people of Salem in a state of terror. Abigail Williams accuses her own friend Mary Warren of witchcraft. Williams pretends that she is in a state of possession and screams, “Mary, please, don’t do it!” W while the people around her stare with wide eyes(Miller 3). Abigail benefits from Mary Warren and the people’s fear, she uses her power as a weapon, so she can achieve the role of leadership among her community. Williams and McCarthy’s lists create external and internal chaos amongst the public. Both instigators feed off the public’s fear and use it to get what they want, especially if it’s for their own

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In the 1940s, America was hysterical over communism with McCarthyism everywhere. Author, Arthur Miller felt that the situation had many similarities to the Salem Witch Trials. In both the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism- fear, hysteria, and danger were common. Miller used his play, The Crucible, as an allegory for McCarthyism to tell one story with an even deeper meaning. Miller stated, “Paranoia breeds paranoia, but below paranoia there lies a bristling, unwelcome truth, so repugnant as to produce fantasies of persecution to conceal its existence.”

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Abigail forces the girls of Salem to dance in the woods with her to help conjure spirits and make the charm to kill Goody Proctor. Abigail threatens the girls right after Betty took fright by saying, “let either of you breathe a word or the edge of a word about the other things and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.” (Miller, 144). Later on as the trials prolong Mary Warren turns on Abby and is telling the court that she lied. When Abigail then accuses Mary of witchcraft she turns back to Abby and obeys her once again.

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