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Examples Of Mccarthyism In The Crucible

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Imagine pursuing your dreams only to have them taken away from you under false pretenses and against your basic rights as a human being. From 1947 to 1956 this was prevalent due to the communist hunt in America. This hunt provided the proper environment for which innocent people were charged with little to no evidence. Arthur Miller was targeted by HUAC for his play The Crucible because of its correlations between the play and modern events. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “the term McCarthyism is applied to the persecution of innocent people using powerful but unproved allegations”. This very idea is prevalent throughout the Crucible, even more so within the court gatherings. An example of this is found within ACT IV of the novel, …show more content…

Elizabeth: Great stones they lay upon his chest until he plead aye or nay. With a tender smile for the old man: They say he give them but two words. “More weight”, he says. And died. “
Giles Corey was charged with contempt of court for not submitting more names to the court after accidentally releasing 93 previously. The stones used to crush him are a representation of the brutal pressure destroying those who would not confess, and the overall good of Salem. Arthur Miller created this as a representation of the court proceedings happening in his era, where those who would not confess to communist relations were doomed to ruined careers.

If you were convicted of witchcraft you were assumed to have partnered with the devil and were killed if not willing to confess to the court. Yet confessing meant giving up others lives in order to save your own. This is found within ACT I of The Crucible,
“Abigail: I want to open myself! They turn to her, startled. She is enraptured, as though in a pearly light. I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (pg

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