The Crucible and the McCarthy Era
analytical Essay
500 words
Arthur Miller's The Crucible, depicts the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 but is analogous to the McCarthy trials of the 1950s. In both situations, widespread hysteria occurs, stemming from existing fears of the people of that particular era. The Salem witchhunt trials parallel the McCarthy era in three major aspects: unfounded accusations, hostile interrogation of numerous innocent people and the ruination and death of various people's lives.
The unfounded accusations that Joseph McCarthy and the girls in The Crucible make are what fuels the widespread hysteria in both situations. McCarthy is quoted as declaring in a speech, "I have here in my hand a list of 205 that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who, nevertheless, are still working and shaping policy in the State Department." This is the first of the many unwarranted charges that he claims. The girls in The Crucible, all make unwarranted charges against people for witchcraft, especially Abigail Williams. The leader of the accusations, she accuses various people from Elizabeth Proctor to Tituba. Joseph McCarthy and the girls earn the respect and awe of the people, instead of being riduculed for their unfounded accusations.
The hostile interrogation of numerous innocent people occurs during both time periods. During the McCarthy trials, the inquisitors attempt to use slippery tactics to implicate...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how arthur miller's the crucible depicts the salem witchcraft trials of 1692 but is analogous to the mccarthy trials in the 1950s.
- Analyzes how the unfounded accusations that mccarthy and the girls in the crucible make fuel the widespread hysteria in both situations.
- Analyzes how the hostile interrogation of numerous innocent people occurred during both time periods. during the mccarthy trials, the inquisitors attempted to use slippery tactics to implicate the accused.
- Opines that the ruination and deaths of various people of the mccarthy trials and the salem witchhunt are appalling.
- Explains that the salem witchcraft trials are similar to the mccarthy trials in three aspects: unfounded accusations, hostile interrogation of numerous innocent people, and the ruination and death of various people's lives. arthur miller has written the crucible, not for historical accuracy but rather, as an outlet for his sentiments
Related
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- Why Is Mccarthyism Important In The Crucibleanalytical essayZinnia Morey English 11 10 December 2015 McCarthyism is a campaign against declared communists in the US government and other institutions carried out under Joseph McCarthy during 1950-1954. Many of the accused were blacklisted or lost their jobs, even though most did not in fact belong to the communist party. “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, was written during the time McCarthyism took place which explains the major similarities between the two. “The Crucible” had to do with people being accused as witches or doing witchcraft, although many of them were innocent of the crime. During McCarthyism, if people didn't confess being a communist,even though one were innocent it would result as a loss of a job, just as in “The Crucible” if the
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how arthur miller's "the crucible" portrays the causes, effects, advantages and disadvantages of hysteria, mob mentality, and scapegoating.
- Analyzes the causes of hysteria, scapegoating, and mob mentality in arthur miller's "the crucible" and mccarthyism.
- Compares the effects of scapegoating, mob mentality, and hysteria in 'the crucible' and mccarthyism.
- Analyzes how the effects of 'the crucible' and mccarthyism have advantages and disadvantages on others.
- Compares the crucible's' hysterical, scapegoating, and mob mentality with that of mccarthyism. both were introduced during the same time.
- Cites king, natalya, and mccarthy, joseph. "joseph mccarthy to president harry truman, february 11, 1950." history matters.
847 wordsRead More - The Crucible is a famous play produced by Arthur Miller in 1953, which is about a witch hunt that took place in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, but Arthur Miller talks more about McCarthyism and Communism in 1950s in this play by founding many parallels between the House Un-American Activities Committee”s crusade against supposed communist sympathizers and the seventeenth- century witch-hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. So in fact, although The Crucible is a play about the Salem Trail, it is more about McCarthyism. And because of its historical background, McCarthyism relates and effects The Crucible in many ways.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how arthur miller's the crucible is a play about the salem trail, but more about mccarthyism and communism in the 1950s.
- Analyzes how arthur miller fictionalizes the crucible, even though it is based on salem, massachusetts in 1692. mccarthyism is term from senator joseph mccarthy during the cold war.
- Explains that the crucible is related to mccarthyism and the " red hunt" deeply, which makes it a special and outstanding work.
465 wordsRead More - The Crucible Joseph Mccarthyism Analysiscomparative essayMcCarthyism and The Crucible The era of McCarthyism and the Crucible instilled terror within humans, followed by a series of accusations leading to a mass hysteria. Although, both eras shared a common theme witchcraft or communist witch hunts, they took place in separate time periods. However, they both had a similar characteristic of fear within the communities.
In this essay, the author
- Compares the eras of mccarthyism and the crucible, which instilled terror within humans, followed by accusations leading to a mass hysteria.
- Compares how mccarthy and williams made unsubstantial claims regarding the existence of evil without any proof. mccarthyism was during the 1950s, while salem witch trials started in 1692.
261 wordsRead More - A Comparison Of Mccarthyism In The Crucible By Arthur Milleranalytical essayIn 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy gave a speech at the Republican Women’s Club of Wheeling in West Virginia, in which he claimed to have a list of 205 Communists in the State Department. A man by the name of Arthur Miller saw some similarities between this event, known as McCarthyism, and the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Arthur Miller was able to subtly protest the rise of McCarthyism through his literary works, especially in his play The Crucible, because he understood the universal experience of not being able to believe that the people have gone insane. In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller reconstructs and explores the relationship between Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams, where Elizabeth is perceived as a superior person and Abigail
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how arthur miller protested the rise of mccarthyism through his literary works, especially in his play the crucible, because he understood the universal experience of not believing that the people have gone insane.
- Analyzes how the play persuades the reader to sympathize with elizabeth through some of the stage directions.
- Analyzes how arthur miller's portrayal of abigail williams as a bad person contrasts with how the reader views elizabeth.
- Analyzes how elizabeth and abigail are completely opposites, but have many things in common. they are both emotional and passionate about things like her family's safety and marriage.
- Analyzes how arthur miller examines the relationship between elizabeth proctor and abigail williams in the play the crucible.
1065 wordsRead More - Similarities Between Mccarthyism And The Crucibleanalytical essayThe similarity between Salem in 1692 and McCarthyism during the 1950’s was mainly because of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Miller wrote the play as a response to what he seen as a modern day witch hunt. Led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, the House Committee on Un-American Activities wanted to find and expose communist sympathizers in the U.S. Miller researched several historical records of the 1692 trials, the similarities between the destructive trial of Martha Carrier and those blacklisted by the House Committee can’t be denied. In the The Crucible those in power in the Salem hierarchy used their political position to make fear within the Salem turning neighbor against neighbor and destroying lives. According to Miller, the hearings led by
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the similarities between salem in 1692 and mccarthyism during the 1950's because of arthur miller’s the crucible.
138 wordsRead More - Comparing The Crucible And The Red Scareanalytical essayAllegories are stories that have more than one meaning. For example, The Lorax was about a boy who saves the world from destroying itself due to greed; the allegory for The Lorax is that in today's society people are greedy and don’t care about the environment. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red Scare in the McCarthy Era because they were both made of fake claims, fear, and false confessions.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that allegories are stories that have more than one meaning. the lorax is about a boy who saves the world from destroying itself due to greed; the crucible by arthur miller is for the red scare in the mccarthy era.
- Analyzes how fake claims were a big part of the mccarthy communist era and connects to the crucible in the same way.
- Analyzes how fear took a big part in both the crucible and the red scare. mccarthy wanted to get more people to vote for him in his presidential election.
- Analyzes how people in both the red scare and the crucible falsely confessed that they were communists or witches to prevent jail time.
- Explains that arthur miller's the crucible is an allegory for the red scare in the mccarthy era because they were both made of false confessions, fear, and fake claims.
597 wordsRead More - Mccarthyism Vs Crucibleanalytical essayIn Arthur Miller’s “Why I Wrote The Crucible,” he parallels the Salem Witch Trials and the Second Red Scare to criticize the prosecution of suspected Communists in the latter. During the Red Scare conservative politicians, most notably Senator Joseph McCarthy, claimed that Communists had infiltrated the United States government. They used the resulting hysteria as well as hearsay accusations to mar their opponents’ reputations. Likewise, in Miller’s The Crucible, spectral evidence – which is a claim from the witness that the offender’s spirit has harmed them – is used to convict potential witches during their trials. Throughout these two works, Miller effectively links the witch trials to the hearings of accused Communists during the Red Scare and defends his modification of history except about the creation of Abigail Williams and John Proctor’s affair.
In this essay, the author
- Compares arthur miller's "why i wrote the crucible" to the salem witch trials and the second red scare to criticize the prosecution of suspected communists.
- Analyzes how miller parallels the persecution of witches during the salem witch trials and of suspected communists in the mccarthy era.
- Analyzes how reverend parris' slave tituba's confession helps to draw a parallel between the false confessions of alleged communists and of witches in the crucible.
- Analyzes how miller likens the two eras again, when he states that in the red scare the liberals could not challenge mccarthyism because it would result in them being indicted for relations with the communist party.
- Analyzes how miller defends his allegory in the crucible to the mccarthy era by comparing the reality of communism in the 1950s to witchcraft in seventeenth century.
- Analyzes how miller quotes reverend samuel parris to explain his creation of abigail and proctor's affair. miller explains why he altered the story, but does not adequately defend his reasoning in doing so.
- Analyzes how miller defends his linking of the second red scare and the salem witch trials in "why i wrote the crucible." miller does not clarify the romance's purpose in connecting the two periods, only explaining how the idea came about.
860 wordsRead More - The Crucible Vs Mccarthyism Essayanalytical essayMcCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, which refers to the fear of communism that permeated American politics, culture, and society from the late 1940s through the 1950s. Similarities between The Crucible and A Decade of Fear pertain to the bombshell dropped by the accusers and their fame that grew from their accusations. In both The Crucible and A Decade of Fear the accuser both dropped a bombshell with the accusations they made towards people. According to Sam Roberts, author of “A Decade of Fear,” “McCarthy dropped a bombshell.” McCarthy had accused The State Department of being
In this essay, the author
- Explains mccarthyism as the practice of making accusations of disloyalty or treason without proper regard for evidence. the similarities between the crucible and a decade of fear pertain to the bombshell dropped by the accusers.
- Analyzes how mccarthy created fear and smeared anyone in his path to grab at power by accusing people of witchcraft in both the crucible and a decade of fear.
489 wordsRead More - Crucible Vs Mccarthyismanalytical essayMcCarthyism (noun): a campaign against alleged communists in the United States government. Salem Witch Trials (noun): a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. Are the McCarthy trials and the Salem Witch Trials really that different?
In this essay, the author
- Compares the mccarthyism campaign against alleged communists in the united states government with the salem witch trials.
- Analyzes how mccarthy's accusations heightened political tension and led to the formation of the anti-communist group in 1938.
- Narrates how arthur miller was found guilty of contempt of congress for his refusal to testify before the house committee on un-american activities, and his sentence was overturned.
- Analyzes how abigail williams and joseph mccarthy ruined lives and increased hostility in the country and made unsubstantiated claims about people.
- Opines that the salem witch trials and the mccarthy trials were very similar in countless ways.
467 wordsRead More - What Is The Witch Hunt In The Crucibleanalytical essayTwo of those major events of history are the “witch hunts" from the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. In these two events there are many similarities like anger and fear that was going on also there is a lot of contrast between the two such as the consequences. Arthur Miller wrote his play, The Crucible to demonstrate the issue the Salem which trials in hoping that we would not repeat them. That all ended in vain when 1950s rolled around to a fresh round of which hunts, this time known as McCarthyism, named after Joe McCarthy.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the witch hunts from the salem witch trials and mccarthyism are similar events that have shaped the world we live in today.
- Opines that teaching the crucible and mccarthyism in the public today is like teaching about peace.
- Analyzes how in mccarthyism, anger is shown when joseph mccarthy accuses people of being communists.
- Explains that we can't blame people for doing wrong when no wrong was done. people back in the 1950s cared about one thing and that was themselves.
- Explains that the salem witch trials and mccarthyism were confusing and scary events in our time. arthur miller wrote the play so that people could learn from them.
412 wordsRead More