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Salem Witchcraft Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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The Crucible by Arthur Miller uses the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 to criticize anti-communist witch hunts. The Crucible serves as an allegory representing McCarthyism in the 1950’s where many people were accused of being part of the Communist party and supporting them. The paranoia surrounding the witchcraft trials in Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony paralleled McCarthyism. In the Salem Village, people were accused of being in compact with the devil and the only way to get out of the accusation was to accuse others of the same crime. Henceforth, the theme of integrity and morality is tested for each character throughout the play. Salem is a theocratic society. The Puritans pride themselves on their Christian values and live …show more content…

“Heaven and Hell grapple on our backs, and all our old pretenses ripped away. God’s icy wind will blow.” (Proctor, Act 2). The personification shows that there is a constant struggle between good and evil inside each person but no matter how holy and good each person pretend to be, God will be the ultimate judge at the end. In the event of witch trials, everyone is being seen for who they truly are. People who they thought were good (ie. Abigail Williams, Rev. Parris, etc.) were showing that they are not. The majority of the townspeople openly support the Salem witch trials hold personal integrity and truth at a low level. The Putnams uses abuse and manipulation of the truth for financial and personal gain of land whereas characters such as Giles Corey, Rebecca Nurse, and eventually later, John Proctor all die in their own way as part of an act of resistance against the lies of the Salem witch trials. “you know in all of your black hearts that this be fraud. We will burn together.” (Proctor, Act 3). Proctor uses imagery to create an image of fire and darkness, reflecting the trials as being deceitful and hateful. However, “We burn a hot fire here, it melts down all concealment” (Danforth, Act 3). Danforth states that the court of Salem will uncover the truth but rather, they continue to condemn innocent

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