Similarities Between Mccarthyism And The Crucible

Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is an allegory for the McCarthy era in the 1950s. The McCarthy era is described as a period of fear about the potential rise of Communism, creating hysteria among the American society. Senator Joseph McCarthy holds the responsibility for stirring up the paranoia towards Communist activity in the United States, specifically making accusations for present communists within the United States government. The accused individuals were then followed up with unfair investigations that McCarthy directed. Within the investigations, people were to admit being a communist and be blacklisted, or not confess and be prosecuted. However, there truly was no explicit evidence as to why one is a communist, but for those under

The two accountable figures for accusing others were Abigail from The Crucible and Senator Joseph McCarthy which share a direct correlation between each other. A source comparing the two events states, “It can also be observed that when the accusations began in both the cases of McCarthy and Abigail, they targeted those citizens of lower class first” (Similarities between the Crucible and McCarthyism, 2017). Both individuals started the allegations, using the common fear among the people to an advantage. Targeting the lower class allowed the buildup of credibility among the two, promoting the power of trust and respect within their hands. However, the power that was obtained resulted in personal gain. For example, a passage explaining the accusations reads, “During the Salem Witch Trials, Abby hates Elizabeth Proctor and the wife of the man that she loves, which then results in Abby accusing Elizabeth of practicing witchcraft and communicating with the devil. In McCarthyism, anger is shown when Joseph McCarthy accuses people of being communists” (Colena, 2012). The reasoning behind Abigail’s accusations was for the personal gain of having John Proctor to herself. To achieve the goal, Abigail falsely set up Elizabeth Proctor for Witchcraft, and blaming others who stood in the way. As for McCarthy, political status was important and by declaring government officials of being a

Them that will not confess will hang” (Miller, 1953). The court proves to be unfair as those that do not which to confess to witchcraft will automatically be hung. Although one may confess to witchcraft, that individual will be shunned by the entire community. The result is a no-win situation, which ruined lives by crumbling reputations and killing off innocent people. As for McCarthyism, the trials proved to be unevidental, causing many unfortunate, innocent citizens to be scorned for confessing to Communism or remaining quiet leading to further prosecution. For example, in the hollywood scandal of McCarthyism a source states, “Later, this list of ten names swelled to a list of three hundred, and soon stars like Orson Wells and Charlie Chaplin were blacklisted—they were unable to get work and were essentially frozen out of any and all jobs in Hollywood” (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2011). Those accused from McCarthy became ineligible to work, affecting many lives. McCarthyism and the Salem Witch trials within The Crucible show how lives are instantly ruined upon a single