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The crucible analysis
The Crucible Act 2: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Theory of the crucible
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More handpicked essays just for you.
The crucible analysis
The Crucible Act 2: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Theory of the crucible
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Arthur Miller’s work, The Crucible, was written during the “Red Scare” time period, and many themes and ideas regarding both events are presented through a drama based on the Salem witch trials. In this drama, a lack of justice is shown when some jealous, vengeful characters in Salem are willing to use manipulation and deceit, and sacrifice the reputations and integrity of all involved, in order to empower themselves.
Amidst fear’s suffocating embrace, each moment feels like each heartbeat is a thunder that will last an eternity. It spreads to others until the entire community thinks irrationally, only yearning for someone to bring guidance and certainty. In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” the depiction of the Salem witch trials offers a compelling parallel to the hysteria and paranoia fueled by the Communist Red Scare of the 1950s. During the Red Scare, fear of communism led government officials to seek out suspected communists, creating conflict among citizens. Resulting in infringement of fundamental rights granted by law and constitution.
Throughout history the fear of corruption and change has compelled people to go to drastic measures to prevent it. The Crucible, a play by arthur Miller, is set in an environment of religious citizens who fear that the devil and witchcraft will corrupt their society. Much like The Crucible, McCarthyism caused the citizens in America to fear corruption of the government by communism. Arthur Miller used his play the crucible as a direct response to McCarthyism and through this play Miller writes about the Salem witch trials during the McCarthy period to comment on how history repeats itself. The social and political factors in The Crucible resemble those in America during the red scare and McCarthyism.
‘The Crucible’ is an allegory that was created by Arthur Miller during the times of the Red Scare. When A.Miller created the allegory he was being accused of being a communist by politician McCarthy. McCarthy started what is now called McCarthyism in an attempt to root out communism. During this time many people were accused of being communist, because of this many were blacklisted, lost their jobs, and were disgraced. People were accused without any proof, most if not all were innocent.
Arthur Miller's The Crucible's portrayal of the accusations leading to the demise of any convicted being shows the reader that humans are inherently accusatory, and will do anything to ease blame from ourselves, no matter how outlandish the claim. This treatment of fellow man can only be equated to that of the Red Scare during the Cold War years. The Crucible was published between 1952 and 1953, in the heart of the Cold War, where Miller wrote The Crucible while under stress of Russian engagement. Miller's portrayal of deception is well conceived in the novel, and ties in directly with the deception and espionage-like treatment of people during the Red Scare. Miller also sheds light upon the effects of saving oneself by conviction of another.
When Authur Miller wrote the play “The Crucible '' he was coming from a position of victim. “The Crucible” is an allegory for the McCarthyism Red Scare era. An allegory is a story that can be interpreted on both a literal and symbolic level. The allegory was created because of the communism allegations, and the similarities between the hysterias and fears. “The Crucible” is a symbolic representation of the 1950’s Red Scare.
Arthur miller created an allegory in “The Crucible” relating to the 1950s red scare. Hysteria ran rampant in both “The Crucible” and the red scare. Arthur Miller used ‘The Crucible’ to show how he felt during the red scare with the accusations against him. Miller expressed the chaos of the red scare through the characters of “The Crucible”. He used the characters to help visualize the false prosecution of innocent people.
At the time when Arthur Miller wrote the play “The Crucible”, he was coming from the position of a victim. Arthur Miller was accused of being a member of the communist party in the McCarthy era better known as The Red Scare. “The Crucible” is an allegory to The Red scare that was going on when Arthur Miller wrote the play. An allegory is a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning. “The Crucible” contains many similar events to what had been happening during the Red Scare, with some events being very similar, making “The Crucible” a perfect allegory for Arthur Miller to write a play about.
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.
‘The Crucible’ an allegory that Arther Miller created connecting The Salem Witch Trials and The Red Scare. When Arther Miller wrote the play ‘The Crucible’, he was coming from a position of victim. Aurther Miller uses The Salem witch trials as a symbolic story of what happened during his time period. An allegory is a story that can be intercepted on both literal and symbolic levels, which was exactly what Miller did. He took a real story and real life events making an allegory.
Arthur Miller was a Victim during the “ Red Scared “ a time when many people were in fear of McCarthyism and Communism spreading in the United States. Allegory is when a poem, story, or a picture has a hidden meaning, the meaning can be a moral or political one. At the time many of Miller's co workers were being accused of communism in the United States. Miller did what he does best and wrote a play named “ The Crucible “. This play was an allegory for McCarthyism comparing it to the Salem witch trials.
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible fear and hysteria are the foundation of the book and interesting and conflicting events that take place in the community of Salem. It is the answer to results in the process of the community. It is fear and hysteria that urge the Salem Witch. Arthur Miller creates a great example of how people can easily turn against each other in times of a violent and bad situation, including the waste and the power of the lives of others in reality and in doing so.
The stage is set, 1953, the second red scare provoked mass hysteria through the country. Friends turned to enemies, neighbors turned to strangers, and people couldn’t even trust those in their own government. Panic ensued and at the center was Joseph McCarthy with the House of Un-American Activities Committee. Arthur Miller was a popular writer who found himself among the accused during this time. Through his own experience he used The Crucible to connect parallels of the injustice created through the trials, the abuse of power that is created by Joseph McCarthy, and Arthur Miller’s own experience.
Twenty-five men and women died of false accusations against themselves in the 17th Century Salem Witch trials. Two hundred five leaders in the US government were accused of being communist by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Both historical events make a negative parallel to each other, thus exposing the detrimental effects of fear and selfishness on humans. Author Miller in the play, “The Crucible”, uses a jealous and destructive tone that draws striking similarities between the witch-hunt that took place in the 17th Century Salem and the communist hunt led by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. Miller uses the tool of allegory to reveal the dangerous consequences of falsely accusing individuals and exposing the motives of those in power who use fear and manipulation to maintain control.
The Crucible, published in 1953 by Arthur Miller is a very popular book written about the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. While most people use the book to study the Witch Trials, with closer examination it is easy to conclude that it is a direct allegory to the Red Scare and the McCarthy era of 1950s America. An allegory is an extended metaphor in which the characters or objects in the story represent an outside meaning. The Crucible is an allegory to the Red Scare and the McCarthy era drastically by its plot, characters, and the flow and outcome of the court trials. To begin with, The Crucible is an allegory because the plot of the book closely resembles the events that occurred during the Red Scare.