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Fear And Paranoia In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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“The Crucible” is a 1953 play by the author Arthur Miller. The play is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the U.S. government blacklisted accused communists. Arthur Miller was questioned by the “House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities” in 1956 and convicted of "contempt of Congress" for refusing to identify others present at meetings he had attended.
One of the themes used in “The Crucible” is the use of fear/paranoia. Throughout the story, from the beginning, when Betty Parris is “bewitched”, this story shows a concept of irrational fear. For example, the conversation between Rev. Parris and Abigail when Abigail admits: “Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it – and I’ll be whipped if I must be” (Miller 10) shows a huge amount of fear because Abigail, who is the reverend’s niece, admits to dancing, naked, in the forest allows for all of the people to open their imaginations to suspect that …show more content…

This started when Dr. Bennell went to visit Jimmy with his grandmother because Jimmy said that “his mother wasn’t there”. Dr. Bennell responded with giving Jimmy some pills and telling his grandmother to stay with her. The second time this started was when Wilma told Dr. Bennell that her Uncle (Jim) wasn’t “himself” because “he didn’t have that special look in his eyes” while he was talking to her. The third time Dr. Bennell started discovering something was when Dr. Bennell went with Betty to Betty’s friend’s house and they found Betty’s friend’s husband’s doppelganger on the pool table. The time that Dr. Bennell actually believed that something was wrong was when Betty’s father was “working” in their cellar and Dr. Bennell discovered Betty’s father’s doppelganger in the cellar near a small

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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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Fear In the novel, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the concept of fear is brought up throughout the book. Fear is very powerful and can ,make you have total control if you are the one causing the fear. The Salem Witch trials was a very fearful time in the late 1600’s, and people did things they would not normally do, but they did it because they were scared. In this book, a 17 year old girl named Abigail Williams (who you know is up to no good) is found dancing in the forest with her friends.

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Madailein McLenna Connors English 11 4B 13 January 2016 Tit For Tat Written in 1952, Arthur Miller wrote a play known as The Crucible as an analogy to the strike the senator was putting on all the communists soon after World War II. Arthur used the Salem Witch Trials in the 1690’s to show that the same tragedies and sentences that befell people during the McCarthyism trails. Arthur used the Salem Witch Trials as a metaphor to draw national attention towards the doings and executioners of the McCarthyism propaganda. The innocent people during the McCarthyism trials relate to the situation a character known as John Proctor undergoes in the play.

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But it is a whore 's vengeance.” The Crucible is a play written in 1953 by Arthur Miller. It is based on the Salem Witch trials in February of 1692 and May of 1693. The trials were the product of the death of twenty innocents accused of witchcraft.

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The Crucible is a 1953 play written by Arthur Miller. It is amplified and somewhat novelized story of the Salem witch trials. Miller wrote the play as a parable to the McCarthyism persecution of communist sympathisers. In this play, a group of Puritan girls are found dancing and conjuring with the devil in the forest. Soon the whole village of Salem knows about the dancing and starts accusing people of witchcraft.

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In history there have been many major events that have shaped the times we live in. Two of the major events of our time are the "witchunts" of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. The Crucible is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a drama and fictional story of the Salem Witch Trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692-1693. Miller wrote the play as a parable for McCarthyism, when the United States government ostracized people for being communists.

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The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1952. The play is also an allegory to McCarthyism, which was occurring when the play was written. In the most simplistic way the play was about the Salem Witchcraft Trials. These trials caused a mass hysteria throughout Massachusetts. Abigail Williams plays a main role by manipulating others into killing the innocent because of her accusations of witchcraft.

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The Crucible was created in 1953, which shows the story of the Salem witch trials. This event occurred in Massachusetts Bay around the time1692-1693. The plot of the crucible started when a group of girl claimed that they were dancing in the forest with Tituba (slave). The girls were caught by Reverend Parris (Minister). Parris’s daughter (Betty), ends up falling in a coma but we later found out that she was faking being in a coma because she was scared that she going to get in trouble.

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Arthur Miller 's dramatic playwright, The Crucible was about women who were being trialed for their association with the Devil and witchcraft and it took place in Salem, Massachusetts. Miller published The Crucible three years during the whole fiasco with Joseph McCarthy and him claiming that there were people who were communist living in the USA. During the McCarthy fiasco the claimed communist people where being trialed and investigated, much like the women in The Crucible who were being trialed for being classified as a witch. Miller states that he wrote The Crucible out of desperation. At first he wanted to write about the hunt for the Reds in America, but he was motivated to write the playwright because of the liberals fear of being

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In Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," the motif of hysteria serves as a powerful lens through which to explore the destructive consequences of unchecked fear and the manipulation of justice, ultimately highlighting the importance of individual integrity in the face of societal pressure. While some may argue that the events of "The Crucible" are merely historical fiction and not reflective of contemporary society, it is essential to recognize that the themes of fear, hysteria, and the abuse of power are timeless and continue to resonate in modern contexts. Additionally, critics may contend that the characters in the play are one-dimensional and lack depth, reducing the impact of the narrative. However, a closer examination reveals that each character

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What is fear? Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief of someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or threat. In my own words fear is a feeling people get when someone is going to kill them. But not all fear is bad because some people feel fear differently How is fear used in “The Crucible” ?

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Throughout the town of Salem, Massachusetts fear has spread. It has affected everyone in the town and has brought nothing but chaos. The people of Salem are becoming more scared and determined to hunt down every witch they can find. In The Crucible, fear is appeared as a negative trait since it makes the people act differently during this period of time. Abigail showed fear when she said that Tituba was a witch and was performing witchcraft.

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Arthur Miller constructs his play upon the famous Salem witch trails. Miller's Crucible was written in the early 1950s. Miller wrote his drama during the brief reign of the American senator Joseph McCarthy whose bitter criticized anti- communism sparkled the need for the United States to be a dramatic anti- communist society during the early tense years of the cold war. By orders from McCarthy himself, committees of the Congress commenced highly controversial investigations against communists in the U.S similar to the alleged Salem witches situation. Convict communists were ordered to confess their crime and name others to avoid the retribution.

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The Crucible is a 1953 story by the American Playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatic story of the Salem Witch Trials. Salem is a conflicted town located in colonial massachusetts. Most of the conflicts have to do with their religion, or better said “anti-religion”. Citizens of Salem struggle with decisions of good and evil.

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Hysteria in Salem The Crucible is a play written by American author, Arthur Miller, in 1953. It is a somewhat fictional play about the Salem Witch Trials. Miller wrote it as an allegory to the Red Scare, the promotion of fear of a potential rise of communism. Miller himself was blacklisted for refusing to testify in front of the HUAC, a committee that was created to investigate any person who might be a communist.

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