Use Of Allegory In The Crucible

The Crucible Essay

Have you been accused of something that you didn’t do? Did you admit to doing it despite the clearly outrageous accusations against you? Or did you stand your ground? Many people during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and during the permanent mandate of the Un-American Activities Committee in 1945 faced these questions which would determine the rest of their life. Miller’s use of allegory, which is seen through the literal reading of the Salem Witch Trials and the symbolic subtext of the trails and how they relate to the House of Un-American Activities Committee, helps overlay how both of these “trails” that the people faced during these times affected their society. Miller’s literal use of allegory is seen through the

Both of these events helped shaped the local society for years to come. The tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials is just like that of the tragedy of the permanent mandate of the Un-American Activities Committee. In both situations the accused to either confess and accuse other or face punishment, death for being a witch or blacklisted for being a Communist. Each event had an important aspect that was but at risked, for Salem it was the sacred practice of their religion and for the US it was their freedom. When these things were put at risk both societies acted out irrationality in mass hysteria, the effects of this would linger. Towns around Salem felt the effects and ended up having their own version of witch trials, yet there were on a smaller scale. With the permanent mandate of the Un-American Activities Committee, many political decisions back then and it continued to influence political decisions in the years since. Both are often cited as the reason we, as humans, have unfounded fears that can compromise our way of life. The main contributor in these tragedies had to do with the corrupt courts and how there was no factual presented against the