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Red Scare And Communism In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in response to the “Red Scare”. The story took place on Salem, Massachusetts, where people accused others of being witches. They didn’t have evidence to prove their accusations, but the government ignored the facts and decided to believe rumors. This play is a contemporary example of what was happening to the American society during McCarthyism. After World War II, the Americans were scared that communism would replaced their federal government as it had done with China and other countries of Asia. Powerful political figures such as the HUAC and McCarthy accused innocent people of being communists. This practice of making accusations was used as the base to film “Good Night and Good Luck” by George Clooney. In the film, Edward R. Murrow and his dedicated staff talked about McCarthy in their TV program “See it Now”. Their program was a turning point in the “Red Scare” because they spotlighted McCarthy. “Good Night and Good luck” and The …show more content…

If witchcraft was not the cause of the problem, what was it then? He saw that vengeance was the reason of why people was accusing each other, and he knew that justice was not being applied in the Court. It was too late when he decided to say something because people had been sentenced to death. When Elizabeth Proctor lied to protect Proctor in the Court, Hale said, “Excellency, it is a natural lie to tell; I beg you, stop now before another is condemned! I may shut my conscience to it no more- private vengeance is working through this testimony! From the beginning this man has struck me true. By my oath to Heaven, I believe him now, and I pray you call back his wife before we-” (Act.3, pg.119). He protected Proctor by confronting the Court, but there wasn’t anything he could do. He tried to help the victims by telling them to confess even if they had to lie. He failed to save the lives of innocent

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In the late 1940’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy began a tyrannical attack against the people of America. McCarthy went through the nation and accused powerful people of being a part of the communist party. McCarthy had no grounds for his accusations; he would just keep accusing people until they broke down and just said they were a communist to end his attacks. His form of “trial” worked until he tried to accuse Arthur Miller, a brilliant play write, of being a communist. Arthur Miller was livid and fought against Senator McCarthy and his House Committee on Un-American Activities the only way he knew.

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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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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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Cameron Oldfield Mrs. Brincks English III 15 November, 2015 The Crucible and Red Scare Imagine being thrown in jail, blamed for something that you didn't do .The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a story about how certain propaganda and false accusations can ruin lives, just like in the case of the Red Scare. Although 1692 the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare were over 200 years apart, The similarities are striking. both trials used intimidation, fear, hatred, and false accusations to ruin innocent lives. Both trials resulted in terrible outcomes, with both ending with innocent people being put to death and shunned from society.

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In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, he portrays the Salem Witch Trials as an allegory for the Red Scare and McCarthyism. Miller’s intent in writing, The Crucible, was made clear in the preface when he said, “this play is not history in the sense in which the word is used by the academic historian. ”(Miller, 3) Miller wasn’t focusing exclusively on the Salem Witch Trials, but rather he was showing how people’s lies could quickly escalate to suspension then to panic. The purpose of Miller’s play was to highlight the cyclical nature of history. In the fifties, Miller wrote The Crucible during the hysteria surrounding the Red Scare and McCarthyism.

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The Crucible Essay In America during 1953, the fear of Communism was at its peak. Many people falsely accused and prosecuted during this time, being labeled as communists, losing their jobs, and harassed because of rumors and fear mongering. This stretch of time was labeled the “Red Scare” or the McCarthyism Era because of the witch hunts being spearheaded by Joseph McCarthy. Many people saw this as wrong and one of those people was an author by the name of Arthur Miller.

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Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953, as a response to McCarthyism, which is, in general, accusing people of crimes with little to no proof. It ran rampant through the United States during the Second Red Scare through the early 1950s (exactly when Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible). In The Crucible, Miller juxtaposes the leaders, who rationally think for themselves, and the followers, who believe what everybody else believes, through irony, imagery, and denotation. The Crucible is riddled with irony, and Arthur Miller utilizes situational and dramatic irony to show the difference between followers and leaders.

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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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Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible during a time of mass hysteria in the 1950's. During the 50's, a great fear of communism was very real within the United States. He connects this time with another period of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials, by using ideas such as: fear is always based around a grain of truth, groups begin to form in search of the accused, and the best option for survival is to confess and accuse someone else. During the witch trials, it was a near fact in society that witches walked among us.

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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 stage is set, 1953, the second red scare provoked mass hysteria through the country. Friends turned to enemies, neighbors turned to strangers, and people couldn’t even trust those in their own government. Panic ensued and at the center was Joseph McCarthy with the House of Un-American Activities Committee. Arthur Miller was a popular writer who found himself among the accused during this time. Through his own experience he used The Crucible to connect parallels of the injustice created through the trials, the abuse of power that is created by Joseph McCarthy, and Arthur Miller’s own experience.

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Hale’s behavior shows a lack of reasoning and endangers the lives of the accused “witches.” In the second act of the play, Hale still firmly believes that witches are behind the strange events happening in Salem. However, the situation continued to grow, and people started bringing more evidence to Hale’s attention. The new evidence makes Hale question the legitimacy of the accusations. When Hale is questioning the Proctors, more people appear at the house.

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He admits, “I have known her, sir. I have known her” (Miller 110). Thanks to Proctor’s reputation, the confession nearly stands until it falls apart with his wife’s lie. The final and most important way Proctor uses his influence is by refusing to sign the testimony given to him. He says, “Beguile me not!

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How The Crucible Advocates for a Change in Political Attitudes The Crucible and “Why I Wrote The Crucible” are works by Arthur Miller written for the purpose of advocating changes in political attitudes. During the construction of the play, The Crucible, Miller was living in the United States. Miller was concerned with the government and how it wrongfully accused people for supporting Communism. He realized that this phase, called “The Red Scare,” deeply resembled The Salem Witch Trials, which inspired him to ink The Crucible.

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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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