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Similarities Between Mccarthyism And The Crucible

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The Crucible was a play written by Arthur Miller and he discusses dreadful events of the witch trials that took place in Salem in 1692. Arthur Miller uses the Salem Witch Trials to represent the McCarthy Era and to show connections and parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism. The Salem witch trials were many different hearings and prosecutions of people being accused by a group of girls of witchcraft which caused distress in the community. McCarthyism was also popular at this time. “McCarthyism represented a prolonged effort (1948–54) to expose and root out domestic communism.” (Oshinsky). This campaign against communists was carried out by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Both The Crucible and McCarthyism consisted of giving names, having no proof or evidence, and people refusing to answer questions and testify. …show more content…

“Take courage, you must give us all their names.”(Miller). In The Crucible, Reverend Hale has arrived in Salem after hearing about the witch allegations. He decided to question Betty and the others and he demanded a list of all the names of the people being accused. This scene is similar to Elia Kazan returning in April 1952 to give his testimony. “I have come to the conclusion that I did wrong to withhold these names before, because secrecy serves the Communists, and is exactly what they want.(Kazan). Elia Kazan was a well-known Hollywood director who has testified before the HUAC, but he failed to answer one question. He was asked to name the people he knew to be members of the Communists Party and he returned in April 1952 to give his

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“I have here a list of names…” is a quote that is not only spoken in history during the Salem Witch Trials, but also in fairly recent history. Joseph McCarthy used this phrase to present his list of believed communists to the government, while Abigail Williams used a similar accusation for the witches in Salem. Matter of fact, McCarthy’s accusations have been called by many “witch hunts” as an allusion to the Salem Witch hunts that occurred hundreds of years before. The Salem Witch Trials shares many similarities with McCarthyism, however, with the similarities come several obvious differences.

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1500 Words | 6 Pages

Miller's play is not only a portrait of the Salem Witch Trials but a criticism of contemporary America where people's political opinions were also put on trial? Consider this view in light of the critical anthology. The Crucible is a play which revolves around the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, yet was written in 1953. When viewed, through a Marxist lens, it is evident this play is a condemnation of McCarthy through the process of allusion.

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581 Words | 3 Pages

McCarthy had always had edited and fake evidence. He continued to hold unfair trials against those who were accused. In the crucible, John Proctor, a real victim of the Salem witch trials

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In McCarthyism people were accused in many ways. Most of the victims were in a specific career section. They were targeted if they were government employees, entertainment industry, educators, and union activist. If those accused were found guilty, disloyalty, or treason were either deported,imprisoned, and/or lost their job. In “The Crucible” many people were accused without any specific evidence of their doing.

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757 Words | 4 Pages

Arthur Miller makes many different connections to the acts of Senator McCarthy throughout The Crucible. The Salem Witch Trials display many similarities to the acts of Communism in the 1950’s. First of all, false accusations and accusations made without any hard evidence are seen in both The Crucible and the acts of Senator McCarthy. John Proctor in The Crucible was put accused and put on trial for taking part or concealing witchcraft without any evidence of this actually happening. Just like Proctor, Arthur Miller was accused for being a communist during the McCarthy era, although nothing could prove this.

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690 Words | 3 Pages

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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553 Words | 3 Pages

The times back then were terrible. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953 about The Salem Witch Trials of 1692.McCarthyism was the “witch hunt” for the communist in 1953.the parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism are naming names,lack of proof ,and reststance. The first reason they are parallel is because of naming names. Hollywood director Elia Kazan went in front of the HUAC twice. The first time he did not confess and names.

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343 Words | 2 Pages

In the Crucible those who were accused of being guilty, put on trial, and who are expected to confess. Unsuccessful to that led to death. In McCarthy, the media were not disposed to stand up to Senator McCarthy for the fear of being accused of being a Communist. Fear is the main factor playing in both situations, terror of being accused or what people might say, or think.

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McCarthyism and “Crucible’ are similar in many ways McCarthyism is falsely accusing someone of treason without proof or much reason. This is exactly what happened in the book ‘Crucible” where they accused

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Also, since The Crucible was written to be parallel to McCarthyism, the same idea is shown. The same situation can be seen in The Crucible as Arthur Miller was influenced by the events that occurred during McCarthyism. In the Crucible, anyone whose name that had been mentioned underwent an investigation and was asked to prove that they were not partaking in witchcraft. Because this task was impossible, the court made rash decisions such as sending people to jail or sentencing them to be hanged. This scenario is seen in the crucible when Rebecca Nurse is accused.

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As a historical comparison, the characters o the Crucible lived under religious law where only the ways of Christianity were accepted as decided by those that rule the community. In the same way, the 1950’s and the Cold War led many Americans to have an anti-Communist stance and nationalism was encouraged (Fitzgerald 32). In the Crucible, the initial accusation was created when a group of girls were accused of dancing in the the forest, a place considered by Miller as an evil place (Miller 8) in the wake of the mysterious illness of the reverends daughter (Miller 9). During the McCarthy era, the suspicion was started by McCarthy himself as he accused a number of state department officials from being Communist and Soviet spies (Fitzgerald 45-46). In both examples, the initial accusation were groundless as no evidence were presented.

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The Similarities between The Crucible and McCarthyism In 2009, the Swine flu epidemic brought fear and hysteria to the United States. The new and dangerous disease spreading into the U.S. sparked a fear of becoming infected. The epidemic had become so bad the CDC had opened its Emergency Operations Center to handle the situation. Many schools in the United States offered free vaccinations once one was created.

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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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Although, many people that were condemned weren’t actually apart of the Communist Party, (under McCarthyism around 1950-1954) they got blacklisted or lost their jobs. This social injustice is also portrayed in The Crucible as its characters face the Salem Witch Trials. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as his own reaction to the injustice of McCarthyism. Miller’s purpose was to show how people accused each other with false denunciations because of their fear, jealousy and solely hatred of one another under McCarthyism.

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2207 Words | 9 Pages

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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