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Red Scare And Mccarthy Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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Compare and contrast the Red Scare and the McCarthy trials to the situation in The Crucible; contrast Deputy Governor Danforth with Senator Joseph McCarthy. Could this type of hysteria happen today? Discuss. Response: Miller composed The Crucible to demonstrate the impacts of mass mania, relative to that of the Red Scare, and to endeavor and help foresee it later on. In the midst of the Red Scare, people were being charged of espionage, communism, and contempt of the court. Various of these people absolutely guiltless. Predictable mistakes had a gigantic influence in the feelings of the faulted. If you denied you had communist ties, the courts considered it to be a lie concealing reality that you are a communist. In a couple of cases, it was …show more content…

In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays John Proctor, the protagonist, as a tragic hero who has a major flaw and lust for Abigail, his teenage house servant. Because of a paranoid fear of being banished in a town where notoriety assumes such a vast part in their day by day lives, Proctor at first tries to conceal his wrongdoing of infidelity, yet his issue with Abigail triggers a noteworthy arrangement of occasions in Salem, where basic, problematic allegations at that point raise to a far bigger issue, “Abby...you mean to cry out still others?” “If I live, if I am not murdered, I surely will, until the last hypocrite is dead” (Miller …show more content…

Since Abigail’s modern quality (of being misled and crazy) is as it were displayed in this cut scene, I think that may be Arthur Miller left the scene out so he could make a character whose infamous acts were exclusively vindictive, and not a side impact of being crazy. Clearly, Abigail was not implied to turn out crazy; I think Arthur Miller needed to show his readers what could happen when the corrupt seize control. This could only happen if Abigail were a persuasive person with her mind. This way, the ruin of man could not be faulted on craziness, but on man’s manipulative, misleading behavior. “Additionally, when the girls are treated as ‘officials of the court’ with the power to charge and condemn, the thrill in arousing hysteria and anxiety in others, combined with the power to condemn, proves too seductive for a young girl to ignore.”— "Sheffield Theatres Education Resource." Welcome to Sheffield Theatres Checking Plugin. 26 Jan. 2009.) This quote describes Abigail and the other girls have let the lure of newfound power control them. This much is evident without the omitted scene. So perhaps the play is better off without the second scene in Act II. Abigail’s obsession with power is enough for the reader to think about without throwing the question of her insanity into the

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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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The Sins of John Proctor John Proctor Lust Wrath Pride John proctor, a quiet, yet respected member of the community in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, commits many sins such as lust, wrath, and pride. First, John’s foolish past comes back to haunt him when Abigail Williams brings up memories of their past love life, showing John to be a lustful and unloyal husband. When John goes into town to see what all the talk is about a flying girl. Abigail, Who is still in love with John, brings up past memories of the things they did together. John tells her “Abby, I never gave you hope to wait for me.”

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“Hale was a “broken minister” (Proctor, Act 2), McCarthy was a broken senator,” (Oksana, Z.V). When, “The Crucible” was written, it’s supposed to replicate the Americans governments actions during the red scare. “everyone was affected by the witch trials, and in America, everyone was affect by the Red Scare,” (Oksana, Z.V). In “The Crucible” “Parris Represents the American government, and Abigail, who represents traitors such as Gustave and the corrupt in power like McCarthy, was a threat to the system of governing.” (Oksana, Z.V).

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The main text only hints of hysteria at integers throughout the play. Abigail’s delusions are essential in describing the hysteria rampaging through the village, which may not be fully expressed in the rest of the play. Abigail’s delusions contribute to the indication of her madness, better revealed through the addition of the excluded scene. While Abigail and Proctor are conversing in the woods, Abigail mentions her suffering.

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Abigail's sudden switch of character demonstrates pure insanity. “I say shut it, Mary Warren!” (Miller, Arthur. The Crucible.) Abigail’s vicious approach almost failed but, pulled through as a twisted

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837 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout history, there have been major events that have taken place and have shaped the days we live in. Two of these events are the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. Arthur Miller addresses the Salem Witch Trials in his book "The Crucible", but many can argue that, due to what was happening during the time he wrote the book, he wrote it to refer to McCarthyism as well. Some might say that he was "blind to the world" when he wrote the book, but it is more commonly thought that he wrote it for McCarthyism, rather than for human motivation. There is much proof for this, in Miller's autobiography "Timebends", as well as "The Crucible: Act One".

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Having a fear as deep as this will cause panic and distress. From ipl.org again “A person who sympathized with Communists was persecuted, just as if someone tried to defend the accused witches of Salem.” This just shows that not only did the people guilty of communism or guilty of being witched felt fear but the people who tried to take their side. People who vouched for someone they may have liked to try and convinced authorities that they weren’t communist or witched only got themselves into trouble as well. Lastly, the website historyhit.com describes “The paranoia and fear of Communism McCarthy spread during the 1950s never quite disappeared in America, where Communism is still often viewed as the ultimate enemy.”

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Paranoia is a great motive and a sufficient drive for people. As Newton’s law states, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This was the most probable case that happened in the Red Scare back in the 1950’s. This tragedy that happened began with a United States Senator James McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities proclaiming and dictating that Communists had infiltrated the government and even society as well. Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible began with the pretense that these trials were more or less something of a comical sense.

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After World War II, many Americans were in extreme fear as to what would become of them. The main fear was that the Communists would attempt to take over the world and to destroy precious American liberties. John McCarthy, a republican senator from Wisconsin, became the head of a committee known as the United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, or PSI (“Joseph R. McCarty”). This committee became infamous for its unconstitutional investigation and hearings. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in response to what are now known as the McCarthy hearings, proves to be an allegory for McCarthyism in that the play contains a similar basis for the ordeal, a similar set of trials, and some similar effects.

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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 value of judgment is essential in the Crucible. While judgment can strengthen you in terms of power, it can also weaken you and John Proctor is a man of many weaknesses. His main “Achilles’ heel, however, is his lust for Abigail, a powerless but fearsome girl with whom he had an affair with. It’s not all fun and games when

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514 Words | 3 Pages

Abigail was speaking to Judge Danforth, one of the most respected in the town people, Abigail could be seen as the one who’s in the most control in the play. Abigail’s constant

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A final example of Abigail abusing her power is in act III when she says,"Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it‘s God‘s work I do…" This quote shows how Abby abuses her power of persuasion to shift the accusation of her lying about being a victim of witchcraft to completely flip the script and have her accuser be under target of doing witchcraft and in the act of witchcraft. This quote is very effectively used by Miller because he also engages the audience with the verbal irony in Abby saying she's doing god's work but in reality it would be considered the devil's work. This use of power is self centered and irresponsible by Abby because she is throwing another person under the bus so she can keep up the lie that makes up her life now endangering possibly many more in the future so she won't have to face consequences for her actions.

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In the play Abigail only cares about herself and what she can do to protect herself. When the girls talk in Betty’s room and Mary shows weakness and wants to tell everyone about what they did in the forest, Abigail gets really angry. She threatens the girls and is not afraid to show what she is willing to do. “Now look you. All of you.

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520 Words | 3 Pages

The power that Abigail Williams has on the town of Salem, may be fatal. Abigail’s attempt to “defend” herself, comes across as a threat to many of the townspeople. By the third act in the play, Abigail has gotten powerful enough that she can threaten the Deputy Governor of the entire province without negative consequences. “Abigail, in an open threat: Let you beware, Mr. Danforth. Think you to be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits?

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