ipl-logo

Why Did Arthur Miller Write The Crucible

601 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How does the crucible reflect arthur millers view of religion

Why Did Arthur Miller Write The Crucible? Fear very often leads to unexpected and unwanted results. Decisions made in fear are often more dangerous than the thing being feared. In the United States during the Cold War fear had been running rampant. McCarthy, leader of the CIA at the time had used fear to arrest and punish innocent people. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as way to use a past story to warn the United States about the future. Fear is universal throughout human conflict and it’s seen in history. Being afraid daily was common during the Cold War. This fear led to some regrettable decisions that were actually favored during the time. Arthur Miller used his storytelling to discretely show the US leadership that decisions made in fear were dangerous. Miller in his story had a quote about how “Until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven.” stating the the Americans may like how the situation is being dealt with but it will eventually cause terrible trouble. McCarthy was making decisions made in fear and it was hurting the US and in fact made it so that if Miller wrote his opinion without hiding it behind a story he too would have been punished and arrested. It can be assured that Miller would have just written his opinion in its raw form if McCarthyism wasn’t a factor. …show more content…

The dangers of letting fear be in control were present in Salem and the United States and Miller wanted people to realize that. Fear was gripping the US and it was in the mind of most people. The leaders in the United States were persecuting anyone who even questioned the US government. Miller didn’t like that but couldn't write his opinion raw because he too would get arrested. He used a story from the past to provide details about the present and this kept him from legal trouble. Miller wrote The Crucible as a way to show that letting fear control decisions is a bad

Show More
Related

Who Is Abigail Williams Responsible In The Crucible

577 Words | 3 Pages

He was explaining how if anyone stood up to the witch trials in Salem, 1600s they would face immediate arrest, the hardest interrogation and possibly even the rope. People who were even thought to be communists would be trialed with un-American activities. Miller wouldn’t have written The Crucible if he wasn’t trialed on un-American activities. Witchcraft is the beliefs and practicing of magic spells to create unnatural happenings. A crucible is a metal container that is used to melt metals and separate valuable metals from the less valuable ones, it can also be a severe test of life.

Read More

Examples Of Honesty In The Crucible

680 Words | 3 Pages

The Crucible was written in 1952 by Arthur Miller, the play delivers many messages and carries many themes throughout. Nearly every character in the play is put to the test to display an act of courage, weakness, or truth. Some characters lack these traits and never learn to have courage or display honesty. However, most characters are very courageous and demonstrate these acts throughout the whole play. Overall the theme of the The Crucible boils down to being about honesty, weakness, and courage.

Read More

Fear Of Corruption In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

807 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout history the fear of corruption and change has compelled people to go to drastic measures to prevent it. The Crucible, a play by arthur Miller, is set in an environment of religious citizens who fear that the devil and witchcraft will corrupt their society. Much like The Crucible, McCarthyism caused the citizens in America to fear corruption of the government by communism. Arthur Miller used his play the crucible as a direct response to McCarthyism and through this play Miller writes about the Salem witch trials during the McCarthy period to comment on how history repeats itself. The social and political factors in The Crucible resemble those in America during the red scare and McCarthyism.

Read More

What Is Arthur Miller's Convictions In The Crucible

82 Words | 1 Pages

In the Miller Transcript, Arthur Miller is convicted for his suspected association with communist organizations during the 1950s anti communist hunt led by Joseph McCarthy. Arthur Miller’s conviction was not based on any evidence linking him to communism other than attending a meeting with a group of suspected communist Hollywood writers whom Arthur Miller refused to identify. His trial is a great example of the unjust trials and convictions of innocent people under the suspicions of being communists during the McCarthy period.

Read More

How Does Arthur Miller Use Dramatic Irony In The Crucible

696 Words | 3 Pages

Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953, as a response to McCarthyism, which is, in general, accusing people of crimes with little to no proof. It ran rampant through the United States during the Second Red Scare through the early 1950s (exactly when Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible). In The Crucible, Miller juxtaposes the leaders, who rationally think for themselves, and the followers, who believe what everybody else believes, through irony, imagery, and denotation. The Crucible is riddled with irony, and Arthur Miller utilizes situational and dramatic irony to show the difference between followers and leaders.

Read More

The Crucible Dbq Essay

608 Words | 3 Pages

The Soviet Union was on the verge of a nuclear war, so McCarthy put fear in everyone because no one had any idea who was a communist and who was not. He made everyone afraid to trust people, even the friends other had. They were afraid that they would be accused

Read More

Essay Comparing The Crucible And Mccarthyism

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.

Read More

Reasons Behind The Crucible Essay

624 Words | 3 Pages

Reasons Behind The Crucible Arthur Miller’s main purpose in writing The Crucible was to show the similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Trials and to warn against government propaganda. At the time that The Crucible was published, America had a huge fear of communism. Anyone accused of having ties with the communist party was shunned. It much resembled the Salem Witch Trials in how the government, or leader of the time, used fear against the people to gain power. For example, Joseph McCarthy can be compared to Reverend Parris in how they both lead the people into the belief that there were intruders in their mists that had plans to sabotage the community.

Read More

Criticism And Mccarthyism In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

719 Words | 3 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.

Read More

Abigail Williams And The Crucible

787 Words | 4 Pages

This was very similar in The Crucible where witch trials took place. People were condemned for practicing witchcraft without any evidence to show. During Millers time period, a senator named Joseph McCarthy led investigations to identify individuals for having connections with communism. This was in common to the Salem witch hunt in The Crucible, where the authorities would

Read More

Injustice In The Crucible Essay

660 Words | 3 Pages

Miller’s purpose of The Crucible was to represent and mirror the social injustice under McCarthyism as people falsely accused each other because their fear, jealousy and solely hatred of one another. Although, around 1950-1954 the “innocent until proven guilty” clause existed, most trials and accusations were led by “guilty until proven innocent.” Despite Miller’s efforts to criticise people’s actions as

Read More

The Crucible Social Commentary Analysis

1413 Words | 6 Pages

He devalued the witches of the trials because he didn’t live through them while he did live through The Red Scare. Though the hysteria of the witch trials were very real. The people of the time were just as paranoid and fearful as Miller and his contemporaries were of the Communists. John Ditsky explains the dynamic of Salem’s Hysteria. “We ought not overlook the fact that the Salem trials were a manifestation of a popular hysteria excited by at least partially genuine causes.(Ditsky, Stone, Fire and Light: Approaches to The Crucible)”

Read More

Fear In The Crucible

819 Words | 4 Pages

The Crucible: How Fear Changes People During his first Inaugural Address, Franklin D. Roosevelt once announced, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. Fear manipulates a persons rationality resulting in them behaving in ways they normally would not, especially in the story The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. The characters in The Crucible allow fear to manipulate their beliefs and actions. They all know what is right, but fear alters their mindset causing them to act differently.

Read More

Fear In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

628 Words | 3 Pages

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” - Franklin D Roosevelt. Fear plays a major role for the tragic ending of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, because fear is upon the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts, it leads to unanticipated accusations, power, and hatred. This feeling, has occurred in everyone’s life at some point, which is more overpowering than some might think. Once hysteria arose about the girls dancing in the woods, due to all the fear it leads to unanticipated accusations, being a slave, Tituba was accused by Abigail to avoid any punishment.

Read More

How Does Arthur Miller Present Hysteria In The Crucible

707 Words | 3 Pages

Hysteria in Salem The Crucible is a play written by American author, Arthur Miller, in 1953. It is a somewhat fictional play about the Salem Witch Trials. Miller wrote it as an allegory to the Red Scare, the promotion of fear of a potential rise of communism. Miller himself was blacklisted for refusing to testify in front of the HUAC, a committee that was created to investigate any person who might be a communist.

Read More

More about Why Did Arthur Miller Write The Crucible

Open Document