The Events of 1692 in Salem and the Political Investigation of the 1950's in America

The Events of 1692 in Salem and the Political Investigation of the 1950's in America

There is a clear parallel between the events of 1692 in Salem and the

political investigation of the 1950’s in America. What are the

particular characteristics of this play, which makes its story

timeless and universal?

Timeless, universal and parallels to modern times, this is how we can

describe Arthur Miller’s The Crucible as his play brought up many

issues and many ways a small village can turn something so small into

a mass hysteria. His play shows the power of one person and one event,

and how these two small things resulted in the death of so many

people. With the conclusions we can draw from the play perhaps the

most important point is that the events of such a widespread

witch-hunt can still apply to matters all over the world to this very

day. From America to china examples of prejudice and hysteria can

still be told to this very day. In a lecture in the year 2000, at

Harvard University, Millar spoke about a Chinese woman called Yuen

Cheng, who wrote ‘life and death in shanghai’ about her six year

solitary confinement under the cultural revolution in China. After her

release she went to see The Crucible and she was amazed that it was

not wrote by a Chinese writer. This shows the universal relevance, as

this is happening all over the world and how people are unaware of

suffering others are put under even in such countries like America.

Miller stated, “an ideological war is like a guerrilla war, since the

enemy is first of all an idea whose proponents are not in uniform but

are disguised as ordinary citizens, a situation that can scare a lot...

... middle of paper ...

... the

world today the power of love is still as important and such a big

influence that it can make people act in certain ways and make people

to things just like in The Crucible.

The events of The Crucible are so widely seen and used in this modern

world it is hard to disagree with the fact that it is still such a

massive part of the world, as we know it. Many witch-hunts and

hysteria are still used today and the injustice people face is still

widely seen and known around the world. The events and the punishments

might be different but the general feel is still the same and the

timeless and universal actions which people face today and the

striking resemblance to The Crucible just prove that you cannot argue

with the way the events in The Crucible affect are lives and the

impact they still have to this very day.