Arthur Miller’s The Crucible vs The Red Scare

967 Words2 Pages

In life, there are a lot of historical events people learn about, but not many people can relate to them. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller is based on The Salem Witch Trials, many people can relate to it, it has drama. Drama is a key element in helping people understand things, because we all have drama in our lives. The Salem Witch Trials and The Red Scare both had a lot of drama in them. Miller’s story of The Salem Witch Trials closely parallels the Red Scare and communist “witch hunt” of the 1950s.

The Red Scare was a time when people were so afraid of communists. Some even suspected friends and neighbors of being communists. This fear is mostly Senator John McCarthy’s fault. McCarthy started this fear by stating, “I have in my hand the names of 205 cases of individuals who appear to be either card carrying member or certainly loyal to the communist party,” (Shmoop). McCarthy was falsely accusing a lot of innocent people of being communists, because of this there was a word named after him: McCarthyism. “The term McCarthyism refers to an accusatory campaign based on unfair allegations, fear tactics, innuendo, and sensationalized threats of guilt by association,” (McCarthyism). Arthur Miller’s The Crucible took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 (Summary). It was a time when people were paranoid that there was evil in the village. People accused others of witchcraft because of old grudges, they wanted their land, or they were jealous. The accusations started when a group of girls got into trouble for dancing in the woods (Miller). A few of the main characters are Abigail, John Proctor, and Mary Warren (Summary). Abigail is accused of witchcraft, she starts the accusations by blaming Tituba (Miller). Abigail...

... middle of paper ...

...ble." Blogspot. Blogspot, Mar. 2010. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

Lorcher, Trent."Similarities Between McCarthyism and The Crucible & More Symbolism in

The Crucible." Bright Hub Education. Bright Hub, 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

"Mccarthyism." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr.

2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 43-44. Gale Power Search.

Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

Miller, Arthur. “The Crucible.” Literature. Ed. Janet Allen. Evanston: McDondgal Littell,

2008.132-208.Print.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "McCarthyism & Red Scare: People." Shmoop.com. Shmoop

University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

“The Crucible By Arthur Miller Play Summary.” Play Summary. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,

2013.Web.15 Mar.2014.

Show More
Related

  • An Analytical Essay Explaining Why Arthur Miller Wrote The Crucible

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    Authors often have underlying reasons for giving their stories certain themes or settings. Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as a response to political and moral issues. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible proves to have its roots in events of the 1950’s and 1960’s, such as the activities of the House Un-American Committee and the “Red Scare.” Though the play provides an accurate account of the Salem witch trials, its real achievement lies in the many important issues of Miller’s time that it dealswith.

    Read More

  • The Crucible Wiccaphobia

    1396 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Red Scare happened during the Cold War when the US and Russia were threatening each other by trying to build more power than the other. At the time, Americans were very fearful of communists, so when one man named Joseph McCarthy, a Senator from Wisconsin, starting telling people that there were communists living among them, many people believed him (Westlund). The composition of The Crucible is about the Salem Witch Trials, but there are clear parallels that can be connected to the McCarthy Hearings. The people in Salem were afraid of witchcraft and many people believed accusations because they were afraid. The comparison was very controversial and ended up getting Arthur Miller accused of communist affiliation. The Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Hearings are compared in The Crucible and there are clear parallels seen in the story

    Read More

  • How The Crucible Is an Allegory for the McCarthy Era

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    One example of The Crucible being an allegory to the McCarthy Era is the similarity in the way people were accused. In both instances “Habeas corpus” and “Innocent until proven guilty” are not present. In The Crucible the accused entered the courtroom with a decided fate. To Judge Danforth they were guilty unless they could prove themselves innocent or confess and give him the names of other witches. Even though this was unfair, people were afraid that if they stood up to it than they too would be accused. In John Proctors case this was true. John Proctor goes to the courthouse to free his wife who has been accused of witchcraft. Slowly, Danforth and Hawthorn turn it against him and accuse him of witchcraft. All hell breaks loose in the courtroom and Proctor has an outburst.

    Read More

  • Hysteria in The Crucible by Arthur Miller and in the Red Scare

    1670 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Crucible is paralleled directly to the Salem Witch Trials and indirectly to the McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s. The story of The Crucible takes place against the background of the Salem Witch, trials but the themes lie much deeper. The main themes expressed in The Crucible relate to the events that occurred at both the Salem Witch Trials and during the McCarthy era. At the Salem Witch Trials, one hundred fifty people were accused of practicing witchcraft and nineteen of those were convicted and executed. The evidence against these people was hardly substantial. At the McCarthy hearings, thousands of people were “blacklisted.” Anyone who tried to oppose the accusations was also viewed as a Communist. No one was convicted due to the more advanced legal system; still, that did not erase the fear that was instilled by the allegations.

    Read More

  • The Crucible: Hysteria And Injustice

    1618 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Crucible: Hysteria and Injustice Thesis Statement: The purpose is to educate and display to the reader the hysteria and injustice that can come from a group of people that thinks it's doing the "right" thing for society in relation to The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I. Introduction: The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts. It shows the people's fear of what they felt was the Devil's work and shows how a small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of this fear and ignorance.

    Read More

  • Connecting McCarthyism and The Crucible

    1363 Words  | 3 Pages

    The horrors of history are passed on from generation to generation in hopes that they will never occur again. People look back on these times and are appalled at how horrendous the times were; yet, in the 1950s, history repeated itself. During this time, Joseph McCarthy, a United States senator from Wisconsin, began accusing people of being communists or communist sympathizers, which is parallel to the Salem witch trials in the late 1690s when innocent people were accused of practicing witchcraft. One of the people McCarthy accused was author and playwright Arthur Miller. To express his outrage at McCarthy’s actions, miller wrote The Crucible, intentionally drawing similarities between the McCarthy hearings and the Salem witch trials.

    Read More

  • History Repeats Itself: Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"

    540 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story The Crucible, the plot and structure add meaning to the play. Arthur Miller does this by connecting the events of the Red Scare to the Salem Witch Trials. He does this by making the comparisons of how easily it is to trust false things, jump to conclusions too quickly, and believe irrational fears.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Conflict In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    How would you feel if you were suddenly woken up in the middle of the night, with a group of people knocking at your door, claiming that you’re under arrest for being a witch? You would be taken away from your family and friends, and if you don’t confess to a crime that you never did, you would be killed. This idea is the main basis of conflict in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. This deals with the Salem Witch Trials, and highlights it the personal issues that people would have went through being apart of a Puritanical society. Miller wrote the play as an “act of desperation,” ( “Why I,” 2) since he realized could relate the Red Scare to the Witch Trials. Miller was trying to use The Crucible to send a message to the public that what they were

    Read More

  • Theme Of Conformity In The Crucible

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Crucible, the mass hysteria surrounding the witch trials caused paranoia amongst the people of Salem. Miller uses the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 as a symbol and allegory of the fear surrounding the spread of communism during the 1950s in America. The community’s sense of justice was blinded by the mass hysteria and for some, a desire for vengeance and personal gain. The Putnams

    Read More

  • The Relations between the Salem Witch Trials and the Cold War

    382 Words  | 1 Pages

    In 1953, the play called “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller created hysteria in all parts of the country. This play describes the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 and the irony of a terrible period of American history.

    Read More

  • Arthur Miller's The Crucible

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Persecution has been a round for sometime and can be traced historically from the time of Jesus to the present time. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith in the hands of the Jews. Many Christians have been persecuted in history for their allegiance to Christ and forced to denounce Christ and others have been persecuted for failing to follow the laws of the land. The act of persecution is on the basis of religion, gender, race, differing beliefs and sex orientation. Persecution is a cruel and inhumane act that should not be supported since people are tortured to death. In the crucible, people were persecuted because of alleged witchcraft.

    Read More

  • The Many Challenges in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    ruinously impact a whole community, is very aptly titled. By definition, a “crucible” is “a severe test,” and the challenges faced by Miller’s characters are many. The historical events dramatized in the play reflect how core human values, including truth, justice and love, are tested under life and death conditions. The trials of the characters and the values they hold dearly come when their simple, ordered world ceases to be black and white and easily deciphered, and is turned upside down in the gray shades of ambiguity.

    Read More

  • The Role of Fear Depicted in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    The play “The Crucible” is an allegory for the McCarthyism hysteria that occurred in the late 1940’s to the late 1950’s. Arthur Miller’s play “the crucible” and the McCarthyism era demonstrates how fear can begin conflict. The term McCarthyism has come to mean “the practice of making accusations of disloyalty”, which is the basis of the Salem witch trials presented in Arthur Miller’s play. The fear that the trials generate leads to the internal and external conflicts that some of the characters are faced with, in the play. The town’s people fear the consequences of admitting their displeasure of the trials and the character of John Proctor faces the same external conflict, but also his own internal conflict. The trials begin due to Abigail and her friends fearing the consequences of their defiance of Salem’s puritan society.

    Read More

  • Sexism in the Media

    1057 Words  | 3 Pages

    Web. The Web. The Web. 17 Feb. 2014. The "Free Automatic Bibliography and Citation Generator." EasyBib.com - a free online library.

    Read More

  • The Crucible Critical Review

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller in the Early 1950’s. It was written during the “Red scare, when McCarthyism was established. Many anti-communists wanted to prevent communism from spreading just like in The Crucible many wanted to get rid of witchcraft. Many would accuse others of witchcraft in order to not be accused just like many would accuse people of communism. In The Crucible witchcraft would be punishable by death. Many were scared to be accused; therefore many would admit practicing witchcraft in order to save their lives. The Crucible is considered a good play because it is based on real life events during the Salem witch Trials and shows how fear played a role in the individual’s life just like during the “Red” scare.

    Read More

More about Arthur Miller’s The Crucible vs The Red Scare

Open Document