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Analysis of the crucible by Arthur Miller
Analysis of the crucible by Arthur Miller
Critical analysis of the crucible
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The Moral Teachings of The Crucible The Crucible’s author Arthur Miller’s purpose for writing his play, during the mid twentieth century, was in order to express his opposition against the hysteria over communism infiltrating America in the era of McCarthyism. Relations became unstable between the U.S. and the Soviet Union on the spread of communist influence continuing to increase into the Americas, in a period known as the Cold War. Emphasising on the American public’s worry that certain individuals known as “red spies”, sent to expose U.S. government information by disguising themselves within the ordinary middle class population. Miller very strongly disagreed with the constant accusations of those deemed likely caused by fear, tension, …show more content…
As seen in the beginning acts of The Crucible, Miller utilizes the character of Thomas Putnam as the forbearer of creating conflict and discontent with various people throughout Salem over greedilous land disputes. Mr. Putnam instigates a quarrel with John Proctor at the end of the council meeting about the ill girls and summoning Reverend Hale, towards John’s recently purchased land from the Nurse family. Announcing,”What anarchy is this? That tract is in my bounds, Mr. Proctor… It stands clear in my grandfather’s will…” (Miller p.154), with John equally retorting his argument of, “Your grandfather had a habit of willing land that did not belong to him, if I may may say it plain” (Miller p.154). Here Mr. Putnam is trying to challenge his authority against John’s in order to obtain land away from Mr. Proctor, constructing another rift within the village of Salem’s residences. Miller purposefully includes this dispute to demonstrate how highly rigid environments or circumstances can quickly escalate rash emotions connected towards a certain opposition. Drawing a parallel to how easily in a stressful situation, between both the Salem witch trials and the Cold War, produced by a fearful attack on normal security a person is used to, will surely provoke an equally strong reaction with little to no recourse. Evident in how the court proceedings went incredibly fast to convict if an individual did …show more content…
The character of Mary Warren fuels the ideal that the devil can be found in the communities considered ‘less desirable’ citizens through broadcasting in court that Goody Osburn has afflicted her previously. When recounting her clam to John Proctor stating, “So many time, Mr. Proctor, she come to this very door, beggin’ bread and a cup of cider - and mark this: whenever I turned her away empty, she mumbled… and I thought my guts would burst for two days after” (Miller p.168). There also in lies the motif of individuals pertaining to a certain ethnicity or social standing as the enemy. Seen as in Salem the poor, downtrodden women of the village are without hesitation seen as prime suspects. Similarly as during the Cold War era anyone in the U.S. with Russian descent were scrutinized based off the fear of a possible nuclear war between the two nations. As in the Rosenberg couple’s endeavor, quick opinions of their guilt as not only communist supporters, but also as accused traitors of the state by giving Soviet ties information concerning the U.S. government. Anxiety accumulated over the years finally gave way to a scapegoat of sorts, with the average people to court officials pre deciding their plea of innocence as false to the little evidence that the court did have proving their relations with someone from the Soviet Union. It also did not help their case that the
In the article, Miller discusses the rise of McCarthyism, and how it affected the American people and him personally. Being that Miller lived in the time of McCarthyism and was interviewed by the committee in charge of “Un-American Activities”, Miller is a very credible source on the effects of mass hysteria and paranoia. The article “Are You Now or Were You Ever” can be used as a source when discussing McCarthyism and its effects, and other studies of the era. This article is a valuable resource for studies of The Crucible and studies of Arthur Miller
In 1953, Arthur Miller wrote his famous play The Crucible, in response to a fear of Communism that had developed in the United States during that decade. The "Red Scare", as it was later called by historians was led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, whose paranoia of a communist takeover spread through the nation like a wildfire. Men and women alike fell victim to McCarthy's pointed finger and as a result of this hysteria, were mostly deported from the country, their careers and lives ruined.
Arthur Miller was an American author who was born in 1915. He wrote ‘the crucible’ in 1953 during the McCarthy period when Americans were accusing each other of pro-communist beliefs. Many of Miller’s friends were being attacked as communists and in 1956; Miller himself was brought before the House of Un-American Activities Committee where he was found guilty of beliefs in communism. The verdict was reversed in 1957 in an appeals court. The crucible was written to warn people about the mass hysteria that happened in Salem and how the McCarthy period could follow the same route.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller The Crucible is a fictional retelling of events in American history surrounding the Salem witch trials of the seventeenth century, yet is as much a product of the time in which Arthur Miller wrote it, the early 1950s, as it is description of Puritan society. At that particular time in the 1950s, when Arthur Miller wrote the play the American Senator McCarthy who chaired the ‘House Un-American Activities Committee’ was very conscious of communism and feared its influence in America. It stopped authors’ writings being published in fear of them being socialist sympathisers. Miller was fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials and that human beings were capable of such madness. In the 1950s the audience would have seen the play as a parallel between the McCarthy trials and the Salem Trials.
Life as a human is dictated by an inborn hunger or purpose, and people, in general, will act on this hunger for their own personal gain in their individual ways. This hunger, be it for wealth, land, love, power, revenge, or pride, can, and will be the undoing or failing of all mankind as Miller so clearly points out in his play The Crucible. This essay will explore the motives of characters within the play and even the motives of Arthur Miller himself and therefore show how conflict stems from certain recognisable human failings, including those mentioned above, fear, and hysteria. Reverend Parris is the character that initiates the hysteria of the Salem witch trials, in a community where authorities wasted no time minding the business of its citizens, what should have been seen as teen frivolity was blown into one of the ugliest moments in American history. Parris sparks this by firstly acting on his own paranoia, which the reader would find in the introduction 'he believed he was being persecuted wherever he went';, and calling Reverend Hale in an attempt for self-preservation '….
Even though The Crucible is not historically correct, nor is it a perfect allegory for anti-Communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, it still stands out as a powerful and timeless depiction of how intolerance, hysteria, power and authority is able to tear a community apart. The most important of these is the nature of power, authority and its costly, and overwhelming results. “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or against it,” says Danforth conceitedly. With this antithesis, Miller sums up the attitude of the authorities towards the witch trials that if one goes against the judgement of the court they are essentially breaking their relationship with God. Like everyone else in Salem, Danforth draws a clear line to separate the world into black and white. The concurrent running of the “Crucible” image also captures the quintessence of the courtroom as Abigial stirs up trouble among the people that have good reputation and loving natures in society. In a theocratic government, everything and everyone belongs to either God or the Devil.
Arthur Miller’s motivation for writing the The Crucible was that he became interested in the witch trials because he found himself in it. In Miller's essay, “Why I Wrote The Crucible: An author's’ answer to politics”, he explains how he had become fascinated with the environment of paranoia and how it affected society as a whole. “When I came across the story of the Salem witch trials, I finally came up with a way to express those themes on stage.” In his essay he states “I was also drawn into writing The Crucible by chance it gave me to use new language”. To me I thought that The crucible is an allegory for McCarthyism as he connects McCarthyism to The Crucible. At the beginning of the essay, he said explained that the U.S Department’s fear
...l, Miller attempts to criticize societies that are governed by hypocrisies as they open the gateway for many to attain previously unreachable levels of power and are able to commit a crime without paying for it by blaming it entirely on someone else on false charges. Miller’s The Crucible does an excellent job in reflecting not only the society in its direct context of Salem but also other societies such as the society of the U.S during McCarthyism. Miller even though being accused of being a communist, is able to pass on his views about how hypocrisy is a dangerous yet immensely famous tool to which societies sometimes fall to in order to achieve almost an anarchy where people’s survival are based on their ability to blame others.
Leonardo da Vinci once said, “The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves.” Most people show what they want others to see, but people with ethical integrity will always follow what they believe and do whatever it takes. Many characters in The Crucible show their true colors and what it means to have moral strength. Arthur Miller portrayed moral strength in many of the characters in an appreciable way.
In the modern tragedy, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, the author substantially relies on the effect of setting to paint the abstract concept that cultural and geographical impact can seduce to transformation. John Proctor, the tragic hero, whose dynamic character has been incurring deeply when his wife is falsely arrested for practicing witchcraft. Allegorizing the rise of McCarthyism in 1950, the author adopts this historical setting to echo the hopeless atmosphere and the mass hysteria in the American society, thereof emphasizing the geographical matters to town Salem. These judicial corruptions produce the mass hysteria in town Salem where people are scared because of the absence of justice. However, Arthur Miller’s tragic hero, despite living in the corrupted society, John Proctor exhibits his individuality and integrity and faithfully decides to protect his reputation when he realizes that, “because it is my name and I can not have another.”
The fear of communism began during the late 1930’s; however, it escaladed after the closure of World War II and the start of the Cold War. United States citizens were in fear of communism just as people were worried about witchcraft in Salem. Abigail Williams, an evil, manipulating character in The Crucible, is like Joseph McCarthy due to them trying to guide people off the wrong path in the right direction. Both individuals were held accountable of misleading actions because of their selfish objectives- Abigail wanted to win the love of John Proctor and Joseph wanted to be re-elected as senator. The most substantial ‘rule’ of both the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism was punishment for whomever refused to confess. People who refused to accuse one another for a crime suffered in punishment also. This becomes very evident when Tituba, an obedient character in The Crucible, is being interrogated by Reverend John Hale and cried out “No, no, don’t hang Tituba! I tell him I don’t desire to work for him.” (44) That statement is a prime example of Miller expressing his dialog of concern that people expressed during the Red Scare. Witchcraft and communism were extremely serious allegations in the time periods they took place. In the highly religious society in Salem, witchcraft was a hang-able offense; similarly, during the Red Scare reputations and careers of many influential American lives were
When Danforth asks Mary during a trial to faint like she did before, she explains “[i]t [was] only sport in the beginning, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits, and I promise you, Mr Danforth, I only thought I saw them but I did not” (Miller 100). Describing the state of mass hysteria that Salem is experiencing illustrates how Mary can be caught up in the commotion. Emotionally, the feelings Mary is experiencing are real, however, logically the perception is more than false, which explains how much power the witch trials have. Additionally, Mary Warren is enthralled by Abigail Williams’s chaotic actions during a trial, and Mary declares that Proctor is “the Devil’s man!...Abby, I’ll never hurt you more!” (110). Mary’s opinion on the charges change due to Abigail’s hysterical accusations and peer pressure, now defending Abigail against John Proctor. Mary does this despite knowing that Abigail is a liar, revealing to the reader how gullible Mary is when she is around those who intimidate her. Mary’s incapabilities lead her to be easily influenced by her surroundings, ultimately contributing to her decline in virtuous
The Crucible was written arguably as a statement from Miller against McCarthyism. Senator Joseph McCarthy during this time propelled America into an anti-communist hysteria, which led to great numbers of the American public being accused of conferring with the Soviet Union and supporting communism. This was a particularly prevalent issue for members of the Arts, including Miller himself. This was a reaction to the Cold War, whereby Americans were generally identified as capitalist, democratic, and were threatened by the USSR communists. This is significant in terms of religion because the back bone of America is stabilised by religious content. The very foundation of American civilisation was based on a unified belief that the Americas were the prophesised promised land, and when democracy is under threat, there is a national fear that idealisms of modern America are threatened along with it. Up until the twentieth century America had ‘overwhelmingly white…British, and Protestant, broadly sharing a common culture,’ however, more recently ‘America’s common culture and the principles of equality and individualism central to the American Creed were under attack…[t]he end of the Cold War deprived America of the evil empire against which it could define itself.’ (Huntington 2004, 11) Therefore, religion and democracy became the same thing, resulting in a spiritualisation of communism and the Left wing, which subsequently influenced how Americans now relate their national identity to
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.
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.