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Franklin D. Roosevelt once stated “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” this is extremely apparent in the play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller that depicts the events that took place during the salem witch trials. These events in American history had countless similarities that led to the persecution of many innocent individuals. Arthur Miller effectively demonstrates this concept in his play The Crucible by drawing parallels between the witch trials of the 1690’s and the “The Great Fear” of the 1950’s. The Salem Witch Trials and the “The Great Fear” were both the product of fear, hysteria, and false accusations.
In the play The Crucible, playwright Arthur Miller protests the Red Scare of the early 1900s, a period of public hysteria in which Senator Joseph McCarthy accused many innocent Americans of Communism. Appalled by this tragic period of modern history, Miller suggests a parallel in The Crucible, in which he attempts to convey “‘the essential nature of one of the most awful chapters in human history’--the trials for witchcraft in Salem in 1692” (Background: About Arthur Miller” 3). In both periods of history, Miller warns that mass hysteria often results from people who claim, that principle motivates their actions, while they may actually have other secret incentives such as greed or revenge. In The Crucible greed motivates some characters and revenge motivates others, creating the tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials.
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.
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.
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” 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.
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 Salem witch trials proved to be one of the most cruel and fear driven events to ever occur in history. Many innocent people were accused of witchcraft, and while some got out of the situation alive not everyone was as lucky. Arthur Miller the author of The Crucible conveys this horrific event in his book and demonstrates what fear can lead people to do. But the reason as to why Arthur Miller felt the need to write The Crucible in the first place was because the unfortunate reality that history seemed to have repeated itself again. In the article “Are You Now or Were You Ever”, Arthur Miller claims that the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trials were similar and he does this through his choice of diction, figurative language, and rhetorical questions.
The Role of Fear in The Crucible Fear plays an important role in the play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. Fear motivated the accusers and the accused such as the character Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, and John Proctor. Fear motivated Abigail in many ways, first was when her and the other girls were in the woods and they were dancing and Abigail drank chicken blood.
Think for one moment, you’re in a situation where you need to make a decision that you have no idea of what the future is going to bring you. Most people tend to have fear when it comes to situations like this. A better understanding is that fear can be inflicted into the mind of individuals and severely affect them and manipulate them . This might seem unusual but, this reason states otherwise. In the play “The Crucible” the author, Arthur Miller, implies that fear can have a dramatic effect on society.
“The Crucible” is a timeless play whose ideas can be applied to nearly every time period in history. Arthur Miller’s writing contained insights into human nature and displayed the dangers of hearsay and abuses of power. Those dangers were very present in Arthur Miller’s depiction of the Salem Witch Trials and even in more modern times. Through his fictionalized depiction of the events of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials Miller painted a vivid picture that’s allegories can be compared to even modern events. The events of “The Crucible” are comparable to both the Red Scare and the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Imagine patiently waiting in an airplane, waiting to reach your destination. Suddenly, the main controls for the aircraft fail and fellow passengers are aimlessly trying to figure out what to do and fearing for their lives. As months grew closer to the year 2000, people all around the world had the same exact thought. The Y2K event was an early millennial technological fear that was thought to be the end of all computers and digital devices all throughout the world. Arthur Miller's play The Crucible depicts an event with a similar theme of fear and panic, The Salem Witch Trials.
According to The South End Press Collective (1998), Much of what threatens our well-being is a product of dominating structures. History has shown us the effect of social norms in society and the political implications related to fear and the misuse of power. It is important to understand the historical role that fear plays in society. The basis of fear can be used as a means of manipulation, with those in power playing on people's deepest fears to maintain their position (Miller, Lisa L 2015). Fear applies not only to those being controlled but also to the controllers themselves.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” - Franklin D Roosevelt. Fear plays a major role for the tragic ending of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, because fear is upon the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts, it leads to unanticipated accusations, power, and hatred. This feeling, has occurred in everyone’s life at some point, which is more overpowering than some might think. Once hysteria arose about the girls dancing in the woods, due to all the fear it leads to unanticipated accusations, being a slave, Tituba was accused by Abigail to avoid any punishment.
Period4 The Crucible Essay Communism and Witchcraft have the same effect on humans, that effect is fear, when you hear fear you think of your worst nightmare or someone hiding in your closet, during the McCarthyism era and the salem witchcraft people had fear about whether their life is on the line or not. It all depended on one person in their community whether or not they choose to save their life. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red Scare in the McCarthy era because the girls feared Abigail just like everyone feared J.McCarthy, Elizabeth being accused is similar to McCarthy accusing the US Army, they are innocent just like Elizabeth.
