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Examples Of Mccarthyism In The Crucible

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The Crucible and McCarthyism allegories connect the two.
“The devil has been very active in Salem because the people and weather instigate his fury.”
In The story “The crucible” The author Arthur Miller shows many kinds of messages such as social messages, political messages, and moral messages throughout the story. These messages are written as allegories and they link up to the 1950s. In the 1950s McCarthyism was the act of falsely accusing of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism, and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner which is exactly what happens in “The crucible”
Social allegory is shown in the crucible between Mrs. Putnam and Rebeca Nurse. This occurred when Mrs. Putnam accused Rebecca nurse of killing Mrs. Putnam's babies. This shows a social message which is shown when Mrs. Putnam said “how may we "How may we blame ourselves? I am one of nine sons; the Putnam seed has peopled this province. And yet I have but one child left of eight-and now she shrivels!” (Miller 28). Now Mrs. Putnam believes that it is witchcraft that is killing her babies showing the social state of people accusing others and blaming witchcraft. …show more content…

There is a murdering witch among us, bound to keep herself in the dark. Parris turns to Betty, a frantic terror rising in him. Let your enemies make of it what they will, you cannot blink it more. Parris, to Abigail: Then you were conjuring spirits last night. Abigail, whispering: Not I, sir - Tituba and Ruth” (Miller 16). Now, this also shows us proof of political corruption which is again shown later in the book again on pages such as 35 and 43. But that scene showed us how they were able to blame Tituba and have people believe it because of corruption and also because of her

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The Crucible and McCarthyism are not all that different. They were both very dangerous and evil events that have happened, which have ruined many people. In The Crucible, There were many people that were trying to save themselves or another person by using others. John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth was accused and sent off to sit in jail until she hangs or confesses. John did not want his innocent wife to be hung for something she did not do.

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980 Words | 4 Pages

During the 1950’s McCarthyism was a widespread problem reflected in the Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, in hope to warn and prevent mass hysteria developing in the United States. The population of the United States became excessively paranoid at the thought of communists in their country. Paranoia among the citizens did nothing but worsen the current situation of the country at the time, since everyone was accusing everyone else of being a communist. Similar amounts of paranoia during the Salem witch hunts caused

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690 Words | 3 Pages

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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553 Words | 3 Pages

The times back then were terrible. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953 about The Salem Witch Trials of 1692.McCarthyism was the “witch hunt” for the communist in 1953.the parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism are naming names,lack of proof ,and reststance. The first reason they are parallel is because of naming names. Hollywood director Elia Kazan went in front of the HUAC twice. The first time he did not confess and names.

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807 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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721 Words | 3 Pages

Putnam claims that “There is a murdering witch among us, bound to keep herself in the dark. Let your enemies make of it what they will, you cannot blink it more” (16). Putnam is yet another powerful male figure in Salem Betty has taken a grip over in the town. He, in this quote, truly believes that the devil is among the town of Salem based on Betty’s current condition. Reverend Hale, encouraging Tituba to give more names of witches, tells her to look at Betty’s “god- given innocence; her soul is so tender; we must protect her; Tituba; the Devil is out and preying on her like a beast upon the flesh of a pure lamb.

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490 Words | 2 Pages

William Deveney 1 Mr. Moyer English 9 1-18-23 The Crucible and McCarthyism Allegories Connect the Two In the book, The Crucible by Aurthur Miller shows how times can change. Time can change because John Proctor is a man who has a wife in the 1692 time period when the Salem witch trials are happening and John Proctor committed adultery with Abigail Williams and in that time period it's a big deal. McCarthyism is a time in the 1950s when people were falsely accusing people of treason. All of this text connects to

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771 Words | 4 Pages

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, was written in response to the abuses of power under McCarthyism, a period in the 1950s when the United States government conducted a witch hunt for supposed communists. The play draws parallels between the Salem witch trials of 1692 in Massachusetts and the Red Scare and its investigations in the 1950s. McCarthyism led to the false accusations of thousands of people, and those accused lost their jobs. Similarly, the Salem witch trials had false accusations that led to the deaths and imprisonment of hundreds. We can see another parallel in more modern situations where people use their power to prosecute others.

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1035 Words | 5 Pages

The Putnam’s, in the midst of the mass hysteria, falsely accuse her of witchcraft. Because of her strong faith to God, she is unwilling to say she never walks with the devil in order to get out of going to jail and being hanged. Although McCarthyism did not lead to anyone being put to death, people had seen communism begin to take over and they were so fearful of this idea, they were willing to make these rash, foolish

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394 Words | 2 Pages

The crucible is an allegory for McCarthy and the red scare of the early 1950, in the early. Many Americans were afraid that communism might infiltrate the American government and cause the US government to fall. Arthur Miller, the author of the crucibles wrote about Salem witch trials, but used the story to illustrate the unsubstantiated fear, panic hysteria of looking for communist support in America. In the early 1950 Americans became fearful that their friends, neighbors, or cow-workers might be communists attempting to undermine American democracy and spread communism throughout the world. Playwright Arthur Miller, in researching the sale, witch trials and a red scare of impending communism.

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372 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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758 Words | 4 Pages

For example, The Putnam’s dislike Francis and Rebecca Nurse because of the way they gain a high social status, and the Putnams believe that they are part of a faction plotting against them. In order to rid them of Salem, Goodie Putnam accuses Rebecca Nurse for killing her unborn babies. There is no evidence other than the Putnam’s word against theirs, but Rebecca Nurse, who is a charitable woman, is still hanged. Also, Martha Corey is convicted of witchcraft because a man accused her of bewitching and killing his pigs. After months in jail, Martha is inevitably hanged with Rebecca Nurse.

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739 Words | 3 Pages

The crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the red scare in the McCarthy era because fear, Intimidation, and Deception played bigger roles in these Stories. Because of the crucible focusing on the inconsistencies of the salem witch trials and whole cause of McCarthyism was having a witch hunt for people involved in communistic activities it plots a point that through manipulation and disloyalty the trials served as an explanation of how people’s beliefs burns away the outer shells to reveal their true intentions and character beneath and how people see them after all is concluded. “Like the american people, the town folk of salem were willing to believe that there were witches in their town since witchcraft had just been discovered

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1413 Words | 6 Pages

Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is one of these social commentaries. Many critics and even Miller himself has stated his play was an allegory for the McCarthy’s red hunt. He feared the red scare, and such writing a play directly on the subject would’ve been dangerous. Miller wrote an article on why he wrote The Crucible, and he references the thought process in which people were undergoing.

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299 Words | 2 Pages

The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is an allegory that reflects the influence of McCarthyism and the events that took place during Miller’s experience with the House Un-American Activities Committee. In the 1950s, Senator Joseph Mccarthy believed that there were communist spies within America that needed to be investigated and jailed by an organization, HUAC, and to name names. The House Un-American Activities Committee is an organization that sought to expel suspected communists from American society in the late 40s and early 50s, influenced by McCarthy indirectly. This group can be seen as the puritan court in The Crucible which made similar prosecutions to townsfolk in the play by investigating the accused for witchcraft.

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