Salem Witch Trials In 1692 And Mccarthy Fiasco Over Communism

A Link Between Time

People are odd in that they hold grudges against each other and when the opportunity arises they will abuse any situation to take vengeance on those who afflicted them. This happens to come up often in society and in history. A few key examples of people taking advantage of such a situation are the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and the McCarthy Fiasco over Communism in the 1950’s. Arthur Miller, a well known playwright, wrote the play Crucible in response to McCarthyism in the 1950’s in which he allegorically connected the infamous Salem Witch Trials to Joe McCarthy’s hunt for communists. Miller was very successful in connecting the Salem Witch Trials to McCarthyism because of his narration, the characters and the allegories

Salem, Massachusetts is a Puritan community that where the economy is based on local farms and the society is very religious constrained “They did not celebrate Christmas, and a holiday from work meant only that they must concentrate even more upon prayer.” (P4). With land being so vital in the community and religious leaders governing the community; people that hold these positions are more in control. Land disputes often arise due to the high value land has and these grudges between landowners can last for years and years. This, along with Miller’s background narration of character, helps explain why characters like Thomas Putnam acted and how this Witch Hunt gave a perfect opportunity for people to express their feelings and hatreds “Long-held hatreds of neighbors could now be openly expressed, and vengeance taken..” (P7). Miller also specifically stated “... the are Communists and capitalist now , and in each camp there is certain proofing the other. But this is a snobbish objection and not at all warranted by the facts.” (P.35.) which proves that he wrote the book with the purpose of connecting the two

Characters such as Thomas Putnam, Danforth, Abigail and John Proctor. Each of these characters have influence and hold power, albeit some more than others. Thomas Putnam accuses other farmers of witchcraft in order to confiscate their land “This man is killing his neighbors for their land”(Giles,P.96), Danforth becomes so committed to the cause of finding witches and punishing them that he won’t delay hangings “Their will be no postponement”(P.127), Abigail began the whole accusing to get closer to her love interest and not get into trouble for dancing in the wood, and John Proctor was well-known throughout the community and his hanging for the conviction of witchcraft changed the villages viewpoint over the true validity of accusers. All these characters can be connected to those of the McCarthy Era. John Proctor stands for Arthur Miller himself because both were accused, Danforth is connected to Roy Cohn because they were instrumental in the convictions and proceedings and Abigail is most like Joe McCarthy because both were the main accusers and had huge influence in the outcome of accused. Thomas Putnam stands for the people who disliked another person for any reason, so they accused them of being a communist just to get rid of them. Miller’s use of Characters helps to further prove his success in connecting the two historical