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Mass Hysteria In The Crucible And Mccarthyism

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Mass hysteria was present in both The Crucible and McCarthyism. Mass hysteria is when people went crazy because people were accused of being communists and or witches. Mass hysteria was however started by specific people in both scenarios. In Mccarthyism Joseph Mccarthy a United States Senator and in The Crucible Abigail Williams who was accused of having an affair with John Proctor her employer were the specific ones who accused people of being communists and witches.Even though the Salem witch trials happened in the late 1690s and McCarthyism in the 1950s they paralleled each other. McCarthyism and The Crucible caused a feeling of hysteria and paranoia in all the people that were accused and others that were not accused. Abigail Williams and McCarthy had no evidence on the people accused except rumors that were …show more content…

All the attention that they got is hurting their cause. Judge Danforth believed the girls when they told him there side of the story, (The Crucible). People also started believing Joseph Mccarthy when he publicly announced his research on his communist findings. The group of girls will not stop until they proved to Judge Danforth that there are witches and Just Like Joseph Maccartney would not stop until he found all the communists. Mccarthyism, Joseph McCarthy though he would gain popularity by exposing communist people in the U.S. (McCarthyism Article). The Crucible And Mccarthyism have a lot of parallels they both used fear and hysteria to gain control over others and push their agenda. They both accused people without having evidence. In both cases people were charged and put on trial in court. In the end of both scenarios starting falling apart when the truth started coming out. Fear and hysteria can be easily spread by highly trusted individuals. Yes, these two sources serve as a warning to not let history repeat

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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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In the Crucible those who were accused of being guilty, put on trial, and who are expected to confess. Unsuccessful to that led to death. In McCarthy, the media were not disposed to stand up to Senator McCarthy for the fear of being accused of being a Communist. Fear is the main factor playing in both situations, terror of being accused or what people might say, or think.

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People were terrified of communism spreading to the United States, so when accusations started floating around everyone would believe them. McCarthy accused people of communist behavior, although many were falsely accused, no one knew better than to think they were guilty because of how scared they were of communism spreading. This resembles how certain characters were accused of witchcraft in The Crucible. The Red Scare caused nationwide hysteria just how the Salem Witch Trials caused hysteria to the people of Salem.

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And died.” (Doc F) In doing this both men had consequences, some worse than others, and instead of lying and saying the names of people that truly didn’t do anything they refused to in a sense testify. All of these points both relate to McCarthyism and The Crucible. People became selfish and only saw their benefit, neither had evidence to prove anything that they were saying, and people say what effect it was having and started to figure out what was going on so they refused to testify and accepted the consequences.

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The McCarthy hearings and the Salem witch trials accurately represent the saying, "Desperate times call for desperate measures. " In the 1950s, the McCarthy hearings tainted lives by falsely accusing those in the film industry of being associated with Communism. In the 17th century, the Salem witch trials charged innocent villagers of practicing witchcraft. Victims from the McCarthy hearings were isolated and ruined, while victims from the Salem trials were hanged and shunned.

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The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. The Crucible is a story based off of a lot of main characters and scenes. The story itself is based off the salem witch trials hence the story is in the town of salem. The three categories of this story was mass hysteria where people believe things and all join in. Group think is how people together make decisions based on ideas in the group.

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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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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.

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The spread of mass hysteria is due to the irrational fears ingrained in the minds of the Puritans, which were formed primarily because of Tituba and Mary Warren’s lies. Tituba’s false confession led to the initial belief that Salem was indeed suffering at the hands of witchcraft, and Mary Warren’s sudden breaking off from the Devil and claim that John Proctor was forcing her to work with the Devil further proved that there were people in Salem betraying God. This may seem reasonable, but there was a lack of evidence and proper investigation that took place, which led people to jump to conclusions as a way of getting the matter under control. The Crucible can be connected to the McCarthyism of the 50s, where American Senator Joseph McCarthy accused many government workers (without proof) of being part of the Communist Party, which led them to be put on a blacklist. McCarthy’s accusations caught the attention of Americans since many were afraid of the government being overthrown by communists, and this only worsened the mass hysteria at

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Mass hysteria is a phenomenon that has repeated itself throughout history and is characterized by fear, paranoia and irrational behavior or beliefs by a group of people. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the mass hysteria and irrational overreaction during the Salem Witch trials as an allegory to address the hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. known as the Red Scare. All three events vary in the intensity of hysteria as well as the size of the hysterical population, although similarities such as the use of scapegoats, accusations based on insubstantial evidence, and irrational accusations and exaggerated emotional reactions found in both The Crucible and The Red Scare can also be applied to the current hysteria

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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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Mass hysteria can be caused by false accusations made without good intent. The drama The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and the hysteria that spread as false accusations were made for personal benefit. Another event in American history that compares to the Salem Witch Trials is the Scottsboro Boys Trial, false accusations caused unfair treatment of the boys involved due to discrimination and fear, this builds a connection between the Scottsboro Boys Trial and The Salem witch hunts. The events both included false allegations, hysteria, and people contributing to fear.

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Although, many people that were condemned weren’t actually apart of the Communist Party, (under McCarthyism around 1950-1954) they got blacklisted or lost their jobs. This social injustice is also portrayed in The Crucible as its characters face the Salem Witch Trials. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as his own reaction to the injustice of McCarthyism. Miller’s purpose was to show how people accused each other with false denunciations because of their fear, jealousy and solely hatred of one another under McCarthyism.

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