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Similarities Between Mccarthyism And The Crucible

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The Crucible, an allegorical play, was written by Arthur Miller because he observed and personally experienced events occurring in America during the McCarthyism Era in the 1950s that were similar to those of the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692. Now, there are various ways to how the Crucible and the McCarthyism Era are similar, these reasons being the strongest ones. McCarthyism and the Crucible both contained the idea of higher status people having the most power in these situations. To illustrate, Abby accuses the wife of a government man in the Crucible movie. Danforth tells Abby that she must be mistaken and that she should rethink about it again. Leading Abby to realize that she didn’t have that much power compared to what the court has. …show more content…

For example, Arthur Miller (author of the Crucible) refused to give out any names and was punished in response by having to go to jail. Giles Corey, a character in the Crucible, also refused to give out the name who told Giles that Thomas Putnam was only supporting these trials because it would let him gain more land. This example shows the similarities between the two of them staying loyal to protect those that trusted them from harm. In the end, both trials started out of fear. The concept of detecting a new threat led to these trials and what brought them to the end (downfall). McCarthyism only began because McCarthy lied that communists wanted to give away national secrets, etc. Anything that leads to the privacy of citizens and the government. (It was never illegal to be a communist) This scared citizens and in response to the trials were overjoyed to know that they would soon be safe again. The witch trials also began the same way because these girls in the town were behaving unusually. They were out dancing in the woods and boiling hot water while throwing things inside it for a love spell. Which was found to be quite strange by everyone in the

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490 Words | 2 Pages

The Crucible and McCarthyism are not all that different. They were both very dangerous and evil events that have happened, which have ruined many people. In The Crucible, There were many people that were trying to save themselves or another person by using others. John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth was accused and sent off to sit in jail until she hangs or confesses. John did not want his innocent wife to be hung for something she did not do.

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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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880 Words | 4 Pages

In 1957, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible during the McCarthyism era to show how much fear and hysteria can and has already impacted America. The Crucible exaggerates the Salem witch trials of 1962-1963 which are similar to the McCarthyism era. The parallels between the Salem Witch trials and McCarthyism include blaming others, unreliable sources, and punishment if someone refuses to testify. The first parallels between the Salem Witch trials and McCarthyism are blaming others to save

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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

Almost every kid in school has read a passage or a story, and never really understood the purpose of learning the topic in school. The teachers expect us to do the work, and hopefully understand it, but we never truly understand why we learned such a topic or event. The Crucible is a prime example on what students read in school, or why we’re obligated to read the book. The crucible and McCarthyism have many similarities that many people over look, and don’t realize, and connects more than we perceive. Books like the crucible and McCarthy are historical events, many schools have very few books based on historical events, which is why teachers spend more time on them.

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767 Words | 4 Pages

People were terrified of communism spreading to the United States, so when accusations started floating around everyone would believe them. McCarthy accused people of communist behavior, although many were falsely accused, no one knew better than to think they were guilty because of how scared they were of communism spreading. This resembles how certain characters were accused of witchcraft in The Crucible. The Red Scare caused nationwide hysteria just how the Salem Witch Trials caused hysteria to the people of Salem.

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807 Words | 4 Pages

McCarthy created the uproar of having a ‘witch hunt’ on communists in America. His influence on the people gave him credibility when he accused those innocent people. “He cited 81 cases that day. He skipped several numbers, and for some cases repeated the same flimsy information. He proved nothing, but the Senate called for a full investigation.”(ushistory.org).

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Thomas Bevilacqua Mrs. Goldberg Honors English 11 - 2B 31 March 2023 The Crucible and McCarthyism: What Are the Parallels? Imagine being completely helpless, unable to defend yourself against the accusations of a crime you did not commit. The only way to save yourself is to give up others' names, guilty or not, and put them in your situation. This was the essence of both McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials.

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771 Words | 4 Pages

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, was written in response to the abuses of power under McCarthyism, a period in the 1950s when the United States government conducted a witch hunt for supposed communists. The play draws parallels between the Salem witch trials of 1692 in Massachusetts and the Red Scare and its investigations in the 1950s. McCarthyism led to the false accusations of thousands of people, and those accused lost their jobs. Similarly, the Salem witch trials had false accusations that led to the deaths and imprisonment of hundreds. We can see another parallel in more modern situations where people use their power to prosecute others.

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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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608 Words | 3 Pages

McCarthyism was a vociferous campaign against alleged communists in the US government. Many of the accused were blacklisted or lost their jobs, although most did not in fact belong to the Communist Party. In these two events, many similarities

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906 Words | 4 Pages

When people are placed under an intense feeling of fear, they begin to commit actions they never thought they were capable over. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a young group of girls commit witchcraft which eventually leads to the arrest of over 100 women. This is similar to a time in the 1950s when Joseph McCarthy accuses government officials of communism and that ultimately leads to hundreds of citizens losing their jobs. The Crucible reveals the similarities between The Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s and McCarthyism of the 1950s because it demonstrates how a society can be tremendously impacted by the feeling the fear.

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176 Words | 1 Pages

She’s a witch! He’s a Communist! Two very famous accusations that pivoted the lives of many Americans throughout history. The Crucible by Arthur Miller paints a picture of the 1690’s Puritan settlement in Salem, Massachusetts who conducted witch trials to rid the town of people who had been taken over by the Devil and accused anyone who had ever wronged them, and without any evidence they were hanged for equating with the Devil. Arthur Miller, who was a famous author living during the 1950’s, wrote this play to allegorize the Communist Red Scare when the government and paranoid citizens hunted for Communists in America and without much evidence thousands of Americans were deported.

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351 Words | 2 Pages

Arthur Miller wrote ‘The Crucible’, this play is an allegory, which is a story that can be interpreted on both a literal and a symbolic level. The author had been accused of being a member of the Communist party in the McCarthyism Red Scare Era, he uses his personal story to write this play. Arthur Miller suffered a lot during this period, he had to watch the persons close to him being arrested and himself being accused. So he wanted to write a playwright to capture the mass cultural and the political hysteria of the moment, and recreate the events he endured. He made this allegory principally to show to people that decisions made by fear can be dangerous and have bad consequences, in his playwright, he chooses the Salem witch trials because

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960 Words | 4 Pages

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about the corruption, lying, strict actions of the Salem witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Miller was inspired to write this play to relate to the era of McCarthyism during the 1950’s that he and American citizens were experiencing. In the 1950’s Joseph McCarthy starting accusing public figures of being guilty of treason by supporting the communist party (of Russia). But McCarthy had no physical proof or evidence that suggested his wild accusations. The accusations caused havoc in America, hundreds imprisoned, and thousands to lose their job.

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