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Literary analysis on the crucible
Salem witch trials encyclopedia britannica
The Crucible Essay Examples
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Literary analysis on the crucible
Salem witch trials encyclopedia britannica
The Crucible Essay Examples
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Crucible and McCarthyism are similar because they both name names of people,they had no clear evidence and they didn’t testify. They are both connected because in both documents A&B they named names of people and they falsely accused people of doing things they really didn’t do. For example in Document A” I did wrong to withhold these names”
In 1953 Arthur Miller took out a play called The Crucible. People started to noticed that it has some similarities to Joseph McCarthy's life. Because they both were related on some subjects. So thats why The Crucible parallels McCarthyism in three significant ways:Naming names,lack of proof and resistance.
During the time that Arthur Miller created the Crucible, America was dealing with a very similar problem compared to the Salem witch trails. This problem was called McCarthyism, it was believed that a few hundred communists had entered the country, and they posed a threat to American safety. The accusations of communists in the country caused mass paranoia among the entire United States. Arthur Miller was one of them accused of being a communist and was trialed for it, which most likely lead to the creation of his play the Crucible. After the end of both events - the Salem witch hunt and McCarthyism - the effects afterward left devastating results and lingered for many more years to come.
The Crucible and McCarthyism: What are the Parallels? Is it true that history repeats itself in different ways? McCarthyism and The Crucible have a lot of common despite them being in different time periods. The Crucible is a book written by Author Miller, which explained why the witch trails that took place in Salem, Massachusetts during the 1600’s. Author Miller wrote The Crucible because he got accused of being a communist during McCarthyism period.
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.”
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence. So what does The Crucible and McCarthyism have in common? Throughout the course, many people are being accused of witchcraft. To be exact it was Tituba and the girls claim to have seen a total of 15 people with the devil.
Similarities that both share start with the higher authority figure. In The Crucible, the highest authority is Judge Danforth, and the highest authority in the real life situation is Senator McCarthy. Both share the act of accusing many people in their communities for a form of treason. However in Danforth’s case its a group of women for being witches, and with McCarthy, its people for being communists. Another similarity both share is the person or peoples who rebut the accu from them.
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.
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.
Movies in today's culture, especially horror movies, has the hidden message of McCarthyism. The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller from 1953, and the movie, The Witch, which was made 2016, both have similar connections to each other. In the article, “Why I Wrote the Crucible”, Miller makes many valid points and references to Red Scare era. Miller The Crucible was inspired by Red Scare and McCarthyism, but it was included the Salem Witch Trials as a main component due to similarities. The Witch is a remake of the Salem Witch Trials in a different point of view.
Mass hysteria was present in both The Crucible and McCarthyism. Mass hysteria is when people went crazy because people were accused of being communists and or witches. Mass hysteria was however started by specific people in both scenarios. In Mccarthyism Joseph Mccarthy a United States Senator and in The Crucible Abigail Williams who was accused of having an affair with John Proctor her employer were the specific ones who accused people of being communists and witches. Even though the Salem witch trials happened in the late 1690s and McCarthyism in the 1950s they paralleled each other.
It was a campaign in which innocent people were accused of communism, that occurred over 200 years after the Salem Witch Trials. McCarthyism could have been prevented had people learned about the harmful effects of the Salem Witch Trials. Many similarities are shared between McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials that occurred in The Crucible. During McCarthyism, people feared the intrusion of Communism. Similarly, people in the Salem Witch Trials feared the Devil.
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.
The Crucible was a work of fiction, by Arthur Miller, that weaved real events of the Salem Witch trials. Within the narrative of the play, adultery and jealousy lead to false accusations of the community of Salem. In relation to The Crucible, two non-fiction events that carry the same theme is the Patriot Act and McCarthyism. The Patriot act is a law that was passed after the events of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2011, and McCarthyism is the paranoia and invasive suspicion that followed suit. All three occurrences have similarities between the power of the government and the separation of the people.
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.